Icefire Sunset
by 635589793238
Summary: I could never forget what I did. It would stay with me for all eternity. But I never thought my past could haunt me in such a literal way. I thought the future erased the past. I never knew the past could erase the future. New summary the old one stunk.
1. Edward

**A/N READ READ READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE STORY YOU'RE ABOUT TO LEAVE A VERY NICE REVIEW ON!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I wish, lol)  
**

**This is a story I've been writing, and I decided to get at least 5 chapters done before I started writing it. I've done five chapters, and I'll upload one every 4 or five days, depending on popularity. It's hard, I'm writing sooo much at the moment. Oh, and I would **_**like **_**about 4 reveiws a chapter. I'm not gonna hold chapters for ransome, but seriously, not many people seem to be revewing. Until I say other wise, this story (probably the first 5 or 6 chapters) is set in 1990**

**This is one of those stories that is MUCH better if you read it s-l-o-w-l-y. Well, not that slowly. But if you read it fast then it will seem really fast moving and won't make much sense, cuz its very easy to miss stuff in this story.**

**Oh, and if anyone knows how a new fanfic member (a.k.a me) can get more popularity for there books, please tell me. And I changed the old summary cuz it sucked.**

**Okay, here goes.**

**  
Edward's Pov (1990) **

_He's dying. He's dying. And it's my fault._

My head snapped up. What the hell?

_No, no, no, please, no! Don't let him die. Don't let be dead because of me._

What was going on? What were all these voices in my head? Why were they so loud? Why did they keep getting louder?

_Somebody please help me! Don't let him die. Oh, please, please, don't let him die._

The voice was young – only seventeen or eighteen, I guessed - and female, but filled with a pain that was beyond age. Pain that no one should ever – ever – have to experience. A new voice came, incredibly weak.

_I'm getting cold. What's happening? Am I dying?_

I began to shake. I could feel it. I could feel him dying.

_Nooooooooo! Please don't leave me. You can't! Not now. Not yet. Oh, Edward, please don't go._

Edward.

_Please!_

The voice was a broken whisper now. A broken whisper, murmuring one word after another.

_Edward…_

EdwardEdwardEdwardEdwardEdward…..

_So incredibly cold…_

No. It wasn't possible.

_Edward_

Edward. Me. I was the dying voice, fading away…

_Goodbye Edward._

I was listening to myself die.

_How could you do this to me Edward? How could you leave me here, to fight alone? How could you go, Edward? How could you?_

Stop it. Stop it right now. This isn't funny.

_I'm so cold._

_Edward…_

And that is when I screamed.

**  
Please R&R, I think it went well, but idk. More soon, and please check out my other stories!**


	2. Burning through it

**Hey, next chapter as promised! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Please?**

**Edward, Alice and Jasper's pov in this one. Yay!!!!! **

**Oh, and does anyone know how to nominate stories for competitions and find out about competitions and read stories in competitions? If so, please tell me!**

**And thank you for all my 100's of reviews. And thanks Bre, for the first review!  
**

Edward's Pov

Alice was there in a second – literally.

"Edward?! What's wrong?" She yelped, panicked.

I said nothing. I was curled into a foetal position on the living room floor, shaking noticeably, rocking gently from side to side. "Carlisle! Here, now," Alice called, staring at me.

Carlisle appeared in the doorway a moment later, took one look at me and hauled me into a sitting position on the sofa, Alice helping him. He pressed his hand onto my forehead to check my temperature, a needless action, a knee-jerk reaction for his human patients. I would be the same temperature as him, he would feel only slightly cool to me.

Then why did his hand feel so warm? Boiling, even?

Oh.

_Oh._

Because I was getting cold.

I could feel it now, sweeping slowly up my arms and legs, smooth, and almost tempting, like an angel, stroking my hands and feet.

"_I'm getting cold," _I whispered, my voice not my own._ "What's happening? Am I dying?"_

"Get out of my head!" I yelled wildly at the voice, thrashing against heavy, strong arms. Two sets of arms, one heavy, strong and probably a hallucination - a fruit of my rapidly declining sanity - and one Carlisle's firm and definetly real grip. "Get away from me!" I shouted.

I needed something real to concentrate on before I lost it completely.

Carlisle! I thought wildly, trying to focus on him. He was definetly real, definetly there. Carlisle. Yes! The voices started to get quieter. Yes! Carlisle. And – I was surprised that I actually had to fight to remember her name – Alice. And Jasper and Esme and Emmett and Rosalie and

Then the pain hit.

Another scream wrenched its way from my throat. The pain was cold, so, so incredibly cold it burned like the hottest fire, destroying everything in its path.

That was it was doing to me now. Burning me up, slowly. Too slowly; I wished it would hurry up let it be over.

"_Please, please, someone stop the cold!!!"_

The voices were back, getting louder and louder as the pain intensified until I could hear nothing else.

"STOP IT!!!!!!" I finally managed to choke out. The pain somehow got colder and colder, until I would gladly take a bath in solid ice for the rest of eternity and laugh through it. Laugh through it all.

I had burned at the hated stake for less than sixty seconds altogether before I managed to scream out the words that had been going through my head ever since this nightmare started.

"KILL ME!!!!!! KILL ME NOW!!!" Then my voice cracked, and a gasping sob broke out of my throat. "Please," I whispered, begging now. "Just kill me. Just make it stop. Please. Kill me."

Alice's Pov

The scream. It was amongst the worst sound I've ever heard, worse even than the sound of a vampire being ripped apart.

As soon as I heard the scream, all my plans for the day disappeared and a new vision came into view. Several visions, actually. Edward lying on a hospital bed; Edward thrashing and screaming; Edward murmuring words in a language I didn't understand; and, the most frightening of all, Edward laying perfectly still, his eyes glazed over, unseeing.

Edward. Dead.

I sprinted into the room to see Edward laying on his side, curled up into a tight ball, rocking gently. He was facing me, his eyes staring wildly into mine. Completely terrified.

The terror was something I wasn't I expected, it took me completely by surprise. Edward was never scared. Concerned yes, worried yes, anxious, yes. Scared – never.

"Edward?!" I said, completely surprised and more than a little scared myself. "What's wrong?" He didn't reply, his fevered eyes darting around the room, not really seeing at all. "Carlisle!" I yelled, my voice tight with panic. "Here now!"

He looked far too close to the corpse from my vision. More dead than alive.

He appeared in the doorway, taking in the scene in an instant. I was extremely glad to see him; he was always calm in situations like this.

He pulled Edward out of the foetal position and leant him against the sofa, with me awkwardly helping. Carlisle put his hand against Edward's forehead then immediately twisted it away, looking as if in pain. Cautiously I placed my finger tip on his temple, than pulled it away. It was like sticking your hand into a snow drift straight after warming them by the fire.

"_I'm getting cold,"_ He whispered. I jumped. His voice was strange. It was unmistakeable his, but much younger, more vulnerable, and with a strange accent. French? Russian? Polish? I didn't know. _"What's happening? Am I dying?"_ The words and the voice both sounded somehow familiar.

Then he spoke again, in his own voice again. But filled with anger and terror.

"Get out of my head! Get away from me!" I stared at him as he fought wildly against something I couldn't see. Carlisle stared at him, wrestling him down to make sure he didn't get up and hurt anyone. It wasn't something he'd ever had to do to any of us, not even Rosalie when she was in a mood.

Then, suddenly there was a huge pause, completely unexplainable, as me and Carlisle stared at Edward, then at each other.

Carlisle heaved a sigh of relief.

Then Edward screamed.

This scream was different from his first, not filled with terror or shock, but just one of pure, undiluted pain. I instinctively jumped back ten feet, crouched into a defensive position against whatever Edward was fighting against. Carlisle's eyes widened in shock, and he turned to me.

Edward hadn't stopped screaming.

"Alice! Do you know what happened?"

"No," I said, peering anxiously over his shoulder to Edward. "I heard him scream and I saw… things. I ran in here, and he was curled up and shaking, and then I called you."

"Alice. I need you to tell me what you saw, no matter how bad it was." I heaved a sigh and nodded.

"There were lots of things," I whispered. Was that really my voice, so cracked with fear? "There was Edward in a hospital bed. Edward whispering in a strange language. Edward screaming and fighting. And…" My voice trailed off.

"And?" Carlisle prompted, his expression grave.

"And… Edward. Dead." I swallowed hard.

Carlisle nodded.

"_Please, please someone stop the cold!" _Edward said, in a voice not his own, and not the accented one, but some strange combination of the two. I ran over to him, hugging him tightly, wishing I could do more.

Then, with no warning, his screams cut off abruptly. I stared at him, wondering vaguely how many different emotions could fit into one look. So far there was confusion, panic, concern, helplessness, shock, relief, unease, fear and so many more - most of which I wasn't even sure I understood. But I didn't wear these emotions for long, because Edward's own voice broke through in form of a furious battle cry.

"STOP IT!!!!!!" He roared. I couldn't resist a smile. He was still fighting, and he was using his own voice. That had to mean he was winning, right?

Wrong.

Wrong, because only a few seconds later, Edward let out another yell, still in his own voice, but saying something different entirely.

"KILL ME!!!!!! KILL ME NOW!!!" His voice broke twice on the word now, and the next words he let out were a weak whisper, and although it was still in his own voice, I couldn't help but cry tearlessly. "Please," he begged brokenly. ""Just kill me. Just make it stop. Please. Kill me."

I leant into him, crying a few tearless sobs, before I pulling myself together. I looked up from Edward and into Carlisle's deep golden eyes.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, trying to stop my voice from sounding completely hopeless, and not quite succeeding.

"Whatever we can. Alice, you need to see. Try to concentrate as much as possible. I'm going to get a hospital bed and whatever other supplies that might come in handy."

He didn't know what to do. I understood that – he was just as helpless as I was. He just couldn't give up on Edward.

And neither could I.

"No. First, I need to get the others. Emmett and Jasper anyway." They were out hunting nearby. Rosalie and Esme were a lot further away, going on a trip to some place in Alaska where we might be moving in a couple of years.

"Alice, are you sure? You need to start looking A.S.A.P."

"I know, but we need as many people helping as possible."

"Okay."

I gave Edward a last look, then I ran out the house.

Thankfully, Jasper and Emmett weren't hard to find.

Jaspers Pov

I smelt Alice from a way off, her beautiful scent momentarily distracting me from the feelings emanating off her. She was so scared…

"Emmett," I barked sharply. "Alice needs us."

"What-" Emmett began, but I was already running. With a sigh, he began to follow, re-asking his question. "What's happening?"

"I don't know. But she's scared. She's very, very scared." Amongst other things. I saw Alice, speeding towards us, panic on her pixie-like face. She skidded to a halt in front of me, burying her head in my chest, sobbing.

"Alice!" I said, in shock, hugging her whilst desperately trying to calm her down.

"Stop trying to calm me, Jasper, I need to concentrate," Alice said sharply. But she was already a lot calmer, which was good.

"Sorry, knee-jerk reaction. Alice – what's going on? What do you need to concentrate on?"

"Edward." She sighed, and then took a deep breath. "There's something wrong with him."

"What is it?"

"I don't know!" She yelled, obviously very frustrated. She began running, still explaining, I easily kept pace with her as she spoke, my expression getting darker and darker with each word.

I was so engrossed in her story that I took no notice in the emotions coming from the house until we were almost inside it. Then I stopped dead in my tracks.

I forgot how to breathe, or move, or even blink as I stared at the house. Alice stopped and looked at me curiously.

"Ahh," I managed to choked out.

Then I turned and ran like the very ground I was standing on was burning.

Burning. Like Edward. I forced the emotions out of my head, trying my absolute best to forget everything that was happening in that house.

Unsuccessfully.

I stopped half a minute later, when I was absolutely certain I couldn't feel his emotions anymore, a couple of miles away from the house. Then, knowing how worried Alice must be, I got out my phone and called her. She answered on the first ring.

"Jasper! What was all that about?"

"I could feel it," I whispered. "It was awful."

"What was it? An emotion?"

"No. No, it was more like a… a state of being."

"Huh?"

"Like when someones asleep. Or… or dead."

"How bad is it?"

I paused. The honest answer? Or the acceptable one?

"Jasper, be honest. Carlisle needs to know to help Edward."

"Okay." I heaved a sigh. "Honestly – it makes death seem like a hot bath." There was silence on the other side of the phone. "A-Alice?" I said uncertainly.

"I'm here, Jazz. When are you coming back?"

"I don't know. I will, but I'm not sure I can stand it in the house when he's like this."

"Okay. Any advice?" I didn't expect to have any, but I did.

"Keep him warm. Warm – like what a human would find warm. Keep talking to him. And… he's going to want to die."

"He's already asked. Begged. Screamed," she whispered, sounding haunted.

"Okay. Well – this is going to sound really, really bad, but I have to make it clear." I paused again. "It would be a lot kinder to kill him now."

There was a long silence. Then Alice hung up.

I heaved a sad sigh. It hurt to be away from Alice, and it hurt even more to hurt her in any way.

But it was the truth.

**Did you like it? Please leave a review, I'm open to suggestions and criticism. Thanks! ******


	3. Nika

**Right, so this story is getting a lot more popular a lot quicker than all the others (please check them out to!) so I'm going to focus mainly on it. And due to pretty much every reveiwer requesting I update quicker, I'm giving you this one as a special treat. I secretly think its not as good as all the other chapters, and its quite short. **

**Thank you bre, for reviewing twice and to all the people who asked what was happening to Edward, I can't tell you yet cuz it wouldn't make sense, sorry. I'm gonna try and focus mostly on this story until my other ones pick up a bit and writers block is wiped off the face of the planet.  
**

_Nika's Pov_

_I don't understand. Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting me? Why am I so cold?_

_You're scaring me. You killed Mama. Why did you hurt her? She was a nice lady. _

_Why do you keep lying? To yourself, to your family. To me._

_You keep saying sorry and you sound so broken. Like the toy doll Kiska got for Christmas. Her big brother was angry at her so he tore it up._

_Like you're tearing me up now._

_Of course, it's not the same. You don't want to hurt me. You'll regret it later. _

_I feel so cold. Kiska's crying now. She doesn't know why you're hurting me, but she loves me, and she wants you to stop. But you won't._

_You can kill me, if you want. I won't mind. Because I'll be dead._

_But you'll regret it later._

_And you won't kill Kiska._

_You're too noble. You can't resist a last request. _

_You'll regret that to._

_You miss Carlisle. _

_Why don't you go back?_

_He'll forgive you. But you know that._

_You're worried whether you'll forgive yourself._

_Don't worry - You will._

_But you'll regret it later._

**Oooooh, chills. I hope.**

**I'm not sure I got this right. Hmmm…. **

**  
Please review! :¬D**


	4. Eyes tight shut

**Hey, next chapter as promised. Does anyone know how to find out how many times you've been subbed or favourited, cuz I'm wondering how many people have subbed or favourited me altogether, and thanks to anyone who did. And to all my reviewers, especially bre. You should get an account if you don't already have one, and log in so I can message you and stuff.**

**This chapters longer, so more reveiws**

**Oh, and to everyone who wants more "the truth about alice" It won't let me upload!!! And I have writers block. **

**Sorry :¬(  
**

Edward's Pov

My breathing came in short, wheezy gasps. But I was breathing again, so that was good. And I'd begun to gain some form of conscious thought.

So that was good too.

It hurt…so much.

I'd managed to stop screaming once I realised what it made the others feel like. Helpless.

Like me.

The cold flared up painfully, so I tried to concentrate on what was actually happening, rather than the blistering icefire.

My eyes were very tightly shut. There was a plastic bit in my mouth, like a gum shield. I assumed it was there to stop myself from biting through my tongue. I was covered with something soft and warm. A heated blanket. It didn't help much - but help it did. I was lying down. I could smell Carlisle and Alice and Emmett. Where was Jasper, I wondered. Esme and Rose were in … Alaska. We were going to move there in a few months. Trivial details helped most, I realised. Alice was speaking a lot. Telling me it was going to be okay. I concentrated on her voice, trying to drown out the other, less pleasant, less real voices.

_Carlisle wants you back, Edward. You'll find him. But you'll regret it._

Shut up. I mean it. Don't make me come up there!

Yelling at the imaginary voices that predicted my death – a sure sign of madness (albeit not the most common one).

Not good.

"It's going to be okay," Alice said. I wondered if she was trying to convince me or herself. "Carlisle's getting some medicine that's supposed to stop hallucinations. It's for humans, but it might help. Emmett told me to ask you if you're schizophrenic."

"Probably," I whispered. Alice laughed delightedly, not at what I'd said, so much as that I was actually speaking and making some sort of sense.

"Carlisle, he's speaking! Well done, Edward. Carlisle's coming back, he's got the medicine. Do you feel up for it?"

"I'll… try," I gasped. I felt myself being pulled into a sitting position and something with a sickly lemon flavour sticking in my throat. I gagged a bit. "Tastes… bad."

"It smells bad too. Too sweet. Why won't you open your eyes?" My eyes were still clenched tight shut.

"Easier," I muttered. If you've ever been in a reasonable amount of pain then you'll know what I mean. You squeeze your eyes tight shut in an effort to escape.

"Try." Alice said.

"I don't – I can't-"

"Try," Alice insisted.

I slowly pulled my eyes open, giving myself the mother of all headaches in the process. I held them open for ten seconds and then let them snap shut again, but not as tightly.

"Well done, Edward." It was Carlisle who spoke this time. "How are you?" The pain intensified and I winced and fell back into a lying position.

"Never better," I murmured. Emmett chuckled. "Go to … hell … Em," I couldn't be bothered with his full name.

"Seriously, Edward, what happened?"

"I don't know!" I said, making a pretty pathetic attempt to shout. "I was… reading… and I heard… voices. They got louder … and then… I screamed… and… Alice… was there." The pauses in my speech were annoying me, but it was enough of an effort to speak for them anyway, and I had more pressing things on my mind.

"Cool! You _are_ schizo!" Emmett yelled.

"Alice… punch… him for me," Her tiny fist shot out, catching him straight in the stomach. I smiled. She winked.

"Edward, please forgive me if this is insensitive, but you're a mind reader. You here voices all the time; what was so different about these ones?"

"Well… first… of all, they were… stronger. And louder. I couldn't… drown them out." I paused longer, trying to figure out how to say it. "And one of them was dying." My voice turned dark. I wondered if anyone else noticed the sudden lack of pauses in my speech in that sentence. "The other was… grieving for him." Okay, so the pauses were still there, but less frequent and less noticeable. And not there when I talked about _him_. "The dying one," My voice broke. "His name was Edward."

There was a very long pause that had nothing to do with me.

"Carlisle, I'm tired. Can I… rest?"

"Of course," But he looked confused, and a more than a bit worried. Vampires don't rest. Or maybe it was because of my possibly imminent death? I shifted slightly on the bed, and then remained still.

For the first time in nearly seventy years, I dreamed.

Jasper's Pov

I had to go back.

I couldn't.

But I had to.

I paced up and down, about 500 metres from the house, just far away enough to not feel their emotions.

I slipped my hand into my pocket, feeling my cell, wondering if I should phone. But Alice probably wouldn't want to talk to me, and once she knew what I was thinking, the choice would be made for me. My phone vibrated next to my hand making me jump.

"Hello?" I said.

"Jasper, when are you coming back?"

"I'm half a kilometre away, debating whether or not to come in."

"You should come. Edward's loads better, he was sitting up and talking."

"In his own voice?"

"Yes. He had some medicine and he's resting now. Your advice helped. Emmett's making jokes about the world's first schizophrenic vampire." I chuckled briefly.

"I'll try to come back."

"Good. I'll come out to meet you." Alice hung up, and was by my side in exactly eight seconds.

"Hi," she said, grinning.

"Hi." My voice was a lot more subdued.

"Its going to be fine, Jazz. One step at a time."

I nodded and took a step. "Tell me if it starts to hurt, and we'll stop," she continued.

"Okay." We walked – slowly for vamps, but at a pace where a normal human would have to run to keep up. I began to feel the cold when we were about 350 metres away, like brain freeze, except it covered your whole body. I stopped walking.

"Jazz?" Alice asked. I took a breath.

"It's okay. Just a headache," I lied. I carried on walking, gritting my teeth. The pain kept getting stronger, but it was nothing compared to what I'd felt a couple of hours ago right outside the house. Absolutely nothing. I looked down at my feet, not wanting to meet the cold, so I was surprised when I found myself standing right outside the house.

"Well done. Can you go inside?"

"Yes," My voice was only slightly strained. Alice reached up and brushed her lips against mine.

I walked into the house even more slowly than before, steadily making my way into the "living" room. Suddenly aware of the fact I wasn't breathing, I inhaled quickly through my nose. It was strange. I could definetly smell Edward, but mingled heavily with his scent was another, like burning plastic. Sour, and almost painful, I winced again.

"Is the fire on?" I asked (for some reason, Esme had bought a house were the ornate fireplaces added $5,000 to the price, even though we never needed to use them).

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Edward smells like… burning."

"That just seems to be a side effect of what's happening to him." I nodded, and went into the living room. The cold seemed more manageable now. Edward was lying on his side, breathing evenly, looking very relaxed except for one obvious flaw. His eyes were squeezed very tightly shut.

"His eyes…?"

"He won't open them. Well, he did before, but we had to nag him." I nodded.

I stared at his shut eyes, trying to think of what they reminded me of. Then I realised – and wished I hadn't.

He looked like someone who was trying very hard not to scream.

He looked like a man on fire.

But then, he was.

I had a sudden thought. If this was what it was like for me, who tried fairly successfully to drown out other people's feelings as much as possible, what must it be like for him, when he didn't have the option of running into the forest like the chicken I was?

Ouch.

"He feels a lot better," I murmured, spreading a wave of peace through Edward, not knowing it would help. "He stopped screaming when?"

"Ten minutes after our phone call." Alice said, giving me a look.

"Sorry! I always knew that no one would ever dream of _killing_ him; I just said it would be kinder." Alice gave me a look. "He agreed with me," I pointed out.

"Well, if you want my opinion, you're both idiots."

I might've imagined it, but I'm sure I saw Edward smile.

"Where's Carlisle?"

"He's phoning Esme and Rose."

"Emmett?"

"Out back. Think he's trying to come up with more jokes to annoy Edward." I grinned.

"Shall we go help him?"

Edward's hand clenched into fists. Alice hesitated.

"I'm supposed to be watching him. But I'll be less than a second away, so…I'll race you!" She was out the room before I had time to blink. I was after her a nanosecond later.

"Hey, Jazz," Emmett said, absent mindedly bouncing a basket ball. He chucked it into the air. It didn't come down. "Long time no see."

"It's been less then two hours."

"I know. I just felt like saying that." The ball finally came back down to earth and Emmett struck out with his hand, sending the ball flying towards me. I caught it easily and chucked it far west into the forest.

"Alice – go wide!" She grinned and disappeared into the trees. Five seconds later, the ball appeared over the trees, zooming towards us at over 100/mph, Alice following it. I head butted towards Emmett who spun it around on his finger

For exactly thirty seconds, I completely forgot about Edward.

Then he came back with a bang.

Pain, raw and ugly ripped its way through me. I jumped – literally – ten feet in the air and hit the ground running.

"Edward's relapsed!" I yelled back to them. I was at the front door within a second, the pain so strong I would rather be changed into a vampire 20 times over then go through it another second.

So why was I running towards Edward, instead of away from him?

Because he was my brother, and I loved him.

And because I was a complete idiot.

I very nearly tore the door off its hinges as I sprinted into the living room. I expected to find him fitting or screaming or _something_.

But no. He was lying down in exactly the same position as before, his face as smooth as marble, his eyes closed. There was no difference in him at all. The half smile was still on his face from Alice's quip about how we were both idiots, his hands still fists at the thought of us helping Emmett with his jokes.

So why did I feel like I was being skinned alive?

He was too similar, I realised. Not a hair out of place. Not one difference. Except…

And there it was. The difference so obvious I wondered how I hadn't noticed it before.

His eyes.

His eyes had gone from being clenched tightly shut to wide open. Very wide, wider than I'd ever seen them.

And they weren't his eyes anymore.

They were a deep, oceanic blue, but it wasn't just the colour. They were still the same shape as Edward's eyes; still had his same long lashes that Alice often said had no right being on a boys face. But the eyes held nothing of Edward. None of his kindness, none of his cynicism, none of his dry, witty sense of humour. They were completely empty.

"The eyes," I said hoarsely.

Then, very abruptly Edward sat up.

Alice instinctively moved forwards, but I put a hand out to stop her.

"Stay _back,_" I warned. "Edward?" I said cautiously. Edward began to speak in someone else's voice, in a language that I knew instantly, asking a question in a puzzled tone.

"What language is that?" Alice asked.

"Russian." Just that in itself was disturbing. Edward had never spoken a word of Russian in his life, and now he was speaking it with no trace of an accent, in another voice.

"Do you understand him?"

"Yes and no." Alice gave me a look that was both a query and annoyance.

"Jasper, could you be more cryptic?"

If this was a funny situation, I probably would've replied "Yes and no" for the hell of it, and annoyed her even more.

But this wasn't a funny situation, so I just told her.

"The words he's saying, the actual sentences make sense. But they've got no context whatsoever." Alice nodded.

"Well, go on."

"What? I don't know what to do!" Just staying in the room was enough of an effort.

"Take your own advice. Talk to him."

"Hello?" I said in Russian, taking a hesitant step towards him. The boy – I didn't think of him as Edward at the time- looked up, blinking his very blue eyes. He didn't seem to look at me, rather than through me, as if he was talking to someone behind me. Someone I couldn't see.

"I don't understand," The boy said in perfect Russian. "Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting me? Why am I so cold?"

"Its okay," I said, trying to calm him. "It will stop. I promise."

"You lie."

It was not a question.

"How-" I changed the question. I had to figure out what was happening to Edward. And who this boy was, with the beautiful blue eyes? "Do you know what your name is?"

"Of course. It's Nika." I nodded, racking my brain for anyone of that name. Couldn't think of anyone.

"What's he saying?" Emmett asked tensely.

"His name is Nika," I said.

"Nika?"

"Short for Nikita. Pronounced Nee-Ka"

"Okay. What's with the eyes? And why is _Edward_ calling himself Nika?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know."

"You've got to help him. And quickly. He's changing," Alice said urgently.

"What do you mean…." I looked across at Edward.

Except he wasn't Edward.

It wasn't just his eyes that had changed. His hair was slowly changing from bronze to blonde, and getting longer and neater. His body - now with his arms hugging his knees to his chest, slowly rocking – was gradually shrinking in on itself, getting smaller and smaller.

I switched back to Russian. "Do you know anyone called Edward? Edward Cullen?"

"Yes."

"Do you know where he is?"

"No."

"Okay." I tried a longer route. "When did you meet him?"

"1931."

"Okay…" I said again. "How old are you, Nika?

"I was nearly thirteen when I died."

This just got weirder and weirder.

"Where were you when you met?"

"At my house. In Moscow."

"Are you a vampire, Nika?"

"I'm not like Edward. I do not kill people."

"Hey! Edward doesn't kill people-" I began defensively.

"You lie."

"He would never-" And then I stopped. Because I remembered he _had_. When he had newly become a vampire, he ran away, killing people like any other vampire purely out of shame for what he was.

No, not like any other vampire. He used to kill human monsters. Drug dealers, murderers, thieves and the like.

Which made me even more suspicious of Nika.

"Do you know where Edward is?"

"He's still here. Underneath. Fighting. But he's not strong enough." I shuddered delicately.

"Why are you controlling him?"

"He killed me. And the killer's killer must be killed."

Huh?

"I'm sorry, what"?

"But we can only carry on together. If Edward dies, so do I. So I will stay inside Edward. He is not here anymore."

There were a hundred things I wanted to save of them, most of them consisting entirely of numerous swearwords, but I picked the one that was most likely to get more progress.

"Are you a killer, Nika?"

"I do not kill people." I was about to interrupt, but Nika carried on talking. "They were not people."

"Who did you kill?" My voice was a low whisper.

"Jasper Robert Whitlock."

There was a very, very, very long pause. A thousand questions ran through my head: How did he know my name? And not just any name, but my human name and my middle name too, which I didn't even remember before now? How could he say he'd killed me in the past tense, like I was already dead?

"I'm not dead," I whispered. "I'm a vampire. I'm not alive in some sense of the word, but I'm definetly not dead." Nika carried on like I hadn't spoken.

"Nikolas Sarokov. Jasmine Ithacan. Carlisle Cullen. Isabella Swan. Alice Cullen. Edward-"

"Hey!! Back up! You'll never touch Alice!!!"

"Funny how you talk about her. Like she's a real person."

"She is. She's right there," I said, turning round.

Alice was hunched on the floor looking up curiously. She had a blank look in her eye, like when she was having a vision.

"Alice? Are you okay?" I gently asked in English.

"I'm fine," she said calmly.

I froze.

She was speaking in Russian.

And then, so gradually, that if I wasn't staring straight at her, I wouldn't have noticed, something bad happened.

Something very, very bad.

Her eyes began to change colour.

**Hehehehe, cliffhanger. If you want me to update sooner than leave a review saying so, and you may be rewarded. And sorry but if you're not logged in I can't send you a sneak peek or reply to your reviews. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, it's just not possible. Maybe I'll update quicker…….**

**Oh, and like I said before, if anyone knows how to find out how to check how many people have favourited or subbed, please tell me.**

**Please review! Do you think I'm getting Edward's, Alice's and Jasper's narrative right? How could I improve? What are you're theories on what's going on? Are you getting that feeling like you're in the story, like you can feel Edward's pain too? Cuz that's what I'm aiming for, it's hard, I've never done a fic quite like this and I'm only 13, therefore not the most experienced writer (even if I do occaisionally use words like "therefore" and "albeit". That's just me spending to much time inside Edward's head) **

**And remember:**

**REVEIWS = COOKIES!!!**

**I wish.**


	5. GET OUT OF HER

**I'm back! Please will someone answer some of the questions I've asked in previous chapters, and please feel free to reread chapter 4 if you want, a few edits have been made – nothing that won't come in later, but it might be useful if you're one of those people who likes to figure out what happens next in the story. I know loads of you will probably not want to read a huge a/n right now, what with the cliffhanger before, so here it is!  
**

Jasper's Pov

For a few seconds I could only watch as Alice eyes slowly changed from gold to black to blue. I could have sworn her hair just became a shade lighter…

"GET OUT OF HER!!!!!!!!" I yelled, partly furious, mostly desperate.

"Jasper. I'm getting cold…" Alice murmured.

"No you're not!!!!!! You stop that right now, Alice Cullen!! You're not getting cold!! You're not!!!" My voice broke on the last not, and suddenly I was sobbing.

"Please!" I cried to Nika. "Please, stop it. Leave my family alone."

"Your not people, so how can you be a family?"

"Okay, fine. Not Alice. Please not Alice. You can take me instead."

"I plan to take you anyway," Nika said. I stared at him for a few helpless seconds and then turned to Emmett.

"EMMETT! WHERE THE HELL IS CARLISLE?!!"

"He went to get Esme and Rose from the airport."

"Go! Take your phone, ring him, get him here ASAP. And get out the house."

"Why?"

"It's got Edward. It's getting Alice." My voice cracked. "You have to run. Get to the forest. It couldn't touch me when I was there – it shouldn't be able to get you either."

"What about you?"

I stopped.

"I'm staying with Alice."

"Jasper…"

"Emmett, just go already!"

"And there's absolutely nothing I can say to talk you out of this?"

"Nothing at all."

"Not even the fact that if Alice died, she'd want more than anything for you to be happy and try to live?"

I swallowed hard.

"Not even that."

"Okay," Emmet sighed. He ran out of the house.

I shut my eyes. I needed to concentrate. There was still one tiny shred of hope. I hadn't thought I'd be able to do it – I still didn't.

But it was Alice. So I had to try.

That cold thing inside Edward was a state of being. Like being asleep.

Or dead.

So if I could make someone fall asleep or wake up, cold I get the cold thing out of Edward?

Or Alice?

It would be a lot easier – but still nearly impossible - to get it out of Alice – and no one would blame me for it. Saving my mate instead of my brother. Because I had no doubt that _if_ I managed to save Alice, then I wouldn't have enough strength left to save Edward.

He wouldn't be saved.

He would carry on being _controlled_ by this Nika thing.

And then there was another worry. We would have to run from it. It could always come back.

And I might not be able to stop it a second time.

Or I could try and save Edward. Impossible. But if I managed it, Nika would die. I knew that, he'd told me so himself. Alice would be fine. Edward would be fine. Everything would go back to normal.

Except…

I was a killer, or I used to be. Nika was a killer. If I killed Nika, would the same rules apply?

Could that thing control me too?

There was no choice. I had to do this, for Alice and for Edward. And then I would have to run, far, far away from my family, far away from anyone, so the cycle would end with me. I couldn't run to the Volturi for death, because it would control them too. I didn't want the thing to be anywhere a source of power as big as the Volturi. I would have to be completely alone for the rest of eternity. I could never be near anyone at all.

Alice…

Instead of shaking her from my head like I should've done, I concentrated on her with all my strength, channelling it all to fight against the cold inside Edward.

She made me stronger. Always had done.

It seemed impossible at first; I was stunned by the size and strength of it. It was like asking a human to dissemble the Great Wall of China by hand.

How does someone go about a task that size?

I heard Alice's voice in my head quite clearly.

_One step at a time._

So I started.

It seemed impossible at first; just looking for a weak spot or a place to start was like finding a needle in a haystack the size of Wales.

Alice. Come on. Think of Alice.

_Alice_.

And then I pushed with everything I had, everything I felt for Alice; the disbelief that she was mine and she loved me; the unstoppable desire to be with her; the almost as strong rage I felt about _it_ being inside her…

The all-conquering pain I felt with the knowledge that I would have to leave forever.

Pain is perhaps the strongest emotion of all, I realised. Poisonous enough to break up the strongest love.

Then, ever so slowly, the coldness began to die. Breaking apart around the edges, melted away by the white hot desire and rage and the heart searing pain.

A low moan that was somehow both relief and pain escaped me

And then it was over.

I fell back, bitterly enjoying the hollow victory. I was feeling exhausted and drained. It was strange. It had been more than a century since I felt tired. I took a couple of deep breaths, then a few more. I looked over at Alice. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't feeling the cold. Just a deep, deep peace.

Then a spark of curiosity. Puzzlement.

Then a huge wall of searing agony.

"Alice!" I gasped in shock. Edward materialised silently beside me. I hadn't even noticed him "wake". "What's wrong with her?" I panicked.

Edward's face was an unreadable mask. He was very annoyed and hugely grateful.

And very angry.

"She just had a vision about you leaving."

"Ah."

Alice's pain flared up and I shut my eyes tightly.

"Ahh," I said again, choking on it.

"Jasper, there are only two things I want to say to you." I glanced up at him briefly, then turned back to Alice, trying to calm her.

It was harder than trying to stop the cold.

"It's not," Edward contradicted. "Like I said, there are two things I want to say to you." I turned to him, impatient. "The first is thank you."

What was I supposed to say to that? My pleasure? It certainly wasn't.

"Anytime," I muttered instead. He laughed briefly, then he turned serious.

"The second is that you are, without a doubt _THE biggest __**TWAT**__ in the history of the universe."_ I sighed.

"You don't get it," I groaned. Then I replayed all my thoughts to him. It hurt too much to say it out loud.

"Jasper. You twat," he said again. "Think about it this way. Would you rather Alice go through the cold" - He winced – "or the pain you'll put her through by leaving."

I paused. I hadn't thought about that. I hadn't thought about much at all past keeping Alice safe.

"_Goddamnit!!_" I yelled. I hadn't thought it through. I hesitated, wavering badly. I sighed heavily. "I don't _want_ her to have to go through any pain. _Ever_. If there was any other way-"

"Jasper, shut up. _Listen to me_. We don't know it will come back. Even if you leave, it might still come back. If you stay here, and it doesn't come back then Alice will never have to go through _either_ pain."

"How can you take chances with this?"

"How can you hurt Alice like this?" He said, exasperated. I glared at him. "Jasper, it comes down to this. Do you want Alice to be happy?"

"Of course I do. But I need her to be safe, to."

"I heard your thoughts. The pain Alice felt at being alone was much worse than this. And do you honestly think that Alice would stay here if you left? She'd probably run off to the Volturi to die!" I winced. "Jasper, my point is you and Alice can't exist separately. Its either both of you - or neither. And you know it."

Damn. I hated it when he was right.

Well. I didn't hate it this time, if it meant I could stay.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Alice's pain vanished suddenly.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"_My pleasure_," He took great pleasure in saying.

Stupid damn know-it-all mindreader.

He laughed.

"Why isn't Alice… awake?" I didn't know the word for an unconscious vampire. Before today, I didn't know unconscoius vampires existed.

"She's fine. She's just resting."

"But you're fine. And you were worse."

"You were helping me."

I felt instantly guilty. I should've helped Alice first. I hated not being able to here her voice.

"If you'd helped Alice I would've died. And she'll be fine in a few minutes. She's wants me to tell you that you're a twat. And never to do that again, because you scared the life out of her." He laughed humourlessly at the irony of the expression.

"You can hear her?"

"She can hear us talking to. And also she wants me to tell you that she just had a vision and she'll be awake in twelve seconds."

I looked at her eagerly.

"And also she knows you were trying to act like you'd not decided on a birthday present for her but she saw it anyway."

I swore loudly and small smile crept across Alice's face.

Then she opened her perfect topaz eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd been worried that they might still be blue, that I had done something wrong.

"Where is everyone?" She murmured.

"Emmett's somewhere in the forest, getting Carlisle, Esme, and Rose. They'll all be here soon." I said quietly. I gazed contently at Alice, feeling very pleased with myself.

And very, very happy.

Edward stood there looking at us like an idiot until I sent him a mental message to get the hell out and couldn't he see we wanted to be alone and wasn't he supposed to be the smart one?

With a few swearwords dotted in amongst.

"I'm gonna go find Emmett," Edward said tactfully. And he was gone.

And then suddenly it didn't matter about Nika or Emmett or even Edward. Nothing mattered - nothing _existed_- but me and Alice and this perfect moment. And as I looked across at her, gripping both of her impossibly tiny hands with my own, I knew she was thinking the same thing. I suddenly had a mental image of Edward listening in on us and pretending to throw up.

And I was laughing as I drew her close into my arms and met her beautiful bow shaped lips.

**Aawwwwwwwwwww..... Isn't that sweet? Please tell me what you think, by way of a REVIEW. It only takes a minute and it really makes my day. So go on! Oh, and no comments that just say "I hate this" or "it sucks". If your gonna hate it, then tell me WHY so I can change it a bit. And I quite like the way this turned out, cuz I normally suck at Romance scenes. **

**Hehehe, I've yet to get a bad review on any of my stories, tho. **

**Oh, and I know some of you will probably be thinking that this is the last chapter, or that the next chapter will be the last. Don't worry – there's loads more!! **

** ---- used to be a smiley**

**:¬)**

**REVEIWS = COOKIES!!!!!!**


	6. Hollow

**This chapter was quite boring to write… its just a filler so people understand later chapters, but I might add in something more dramatic towards the end, haha.**

**I'm not gonna hold chapters for ransom, but it seems to be the same people reviewing (Don't stop guys, I love you all!) which is a bit of the shame. Not that I want the regular reviewers to stop, they always make my day, especially bre, but I'd like some others to!  
**

Edward's Pov (two weeks later)

With a snarl Jasper launched himself at the large mountain lion, his long, slender fingers tearing holes in its fur. I wished we could go on long distance hunts longer, it was much more fun. I hated the taste of Deer…

I waited patiently for Jasper to finish, a grim look on my face. He abruptly straightened up as he felt my emotions.

"What is it?"

"Jasper, I need to talk to you."

"Shoot."

I began to walk, him following, more concerned now.

"What do you know about…Nika?"

Just as I expected, Jasper inhaled sharply. He stopped walking for a moment, then carried on walking beside me. After the Esme and Rosalie had been informed on what had happened, everyone had tried there hardest to forget it. It had been like a taboo; no one had so much as mentioned it.

"Don't you know? You were there… sort of."

"It was like a bit like a dream… I think. I don't think I remember any dreams from my human life. I could sort of see it, and hear it… but it was very fuzzy. Like with your head underwater. At midnight."

That wasn't the entire truth. The truth was that I didn't want anyone to_ ever_ find out what I'd been through. I would keep it to myself, protect the others.

"You probably know more than I do," Jasper said quietly. "He said he knew you. That you killed him." There was no accusation in Jasper's carefully controlled voice, for which I was grateful. I always felt I got on with Jasper at much higher levels than the rest of us. Well, with the exception of Alice, obviously. I got on with him in a completely different way that Alice would never truly understand; there was more understanding between us.

We had both been monsters.

_You don't have to talk about it. _Jasper thought to me, thinking about my long pause and wondering if he'd been insensitive. _I've never liked talking about… what I was._

"Your fine, Jazz. I'm just thinking,"

_What's on your mind, mind reader?_

I chuckled without much humour.

"Yes, I killed him. His Dad was a murderer, a rapist." A silent snarl vibrated through my body. Nika's Dad had been the lowest of the low. I had actually considered biting him; he deserved the pain every bit – until I'd thought what sort of terrible crimes he could commit as an immortal. Jasper frowned, and a wave a cool, soothing calm swirled around me. "Thanks," I muttered. "It was 1928. I was killing him… slowly," I whispered, my anger still hear-able through the calm. "I was vey absorbed in what I was doing. I didn't notice when his family came through the door."

I shut my eyes. I always knew I would never – could never - forget what I did. What I became. I always knew it would stick with me for the rest of eternity. But I never thought the past could come back to haunt me in such a literal way.

In the same way the rising sun could blot out all memory of darkness, I had always believed bright future could erase the past.

I never realised that sometimes, the past could erase the future.

I tried unsuccessfully to stop the sob breaking through my lips.

"Edward." Jasper was next to me, his arms around me, calming me down. "It wasn't your fault. They saw you killing him, drinking from him, doing things that shouldn't have been possible. You had to kill them."

"No!" I cried brokenly, abandoning all effort not to cry as soon as the calm was lifted. "You don't understand. They didn't see me doing anything. They were round the corner, I could've left out the back door with him, or killed him there and gone, and no one would've known."

"I don't understand," Jasper murmured. I looked up at him, making no effort to look away.

"Jasper. I didn't kill them because I had to. I killed them because I was _weak,"_ I spat out the horrible word. "Because I was thirsty. Because I was a _monster!" _

I sighed, leaning heavily against a tree, which moaned under the pressure. "Innocent people. People with families, friends, homes. People with _lives, _Jazz."

Jasper was silent for a few minutes, before saying quietly.

"We've all done it before, bro. It's nothing to be ashamed…" he trailed off at the look he was giving me. "Okay, forget I even said that. It was dumb. Yeah, it's hard. But you'll get through it. And you're not alone."

"I know," I said, much calmer now, feeling a little stupid about my outburst.

"Hey, it's fine. Just be glad it didn't happen when you were hunting with Emmett." I snorted. "No one expects you not to have feelings Edward, even if you are the only one who isn't madly in love."

"I thought I was supposed to be the mindreader."

"Hello? Empath!" He said. I laughed again.

"There were four of them, not including his Dad. Nika, his Mum, a girl who I later learned to be called Kiska who was Nika's girlfriend, and Kiska's brother."

"Are you sure you wanna talk about this now?" Jasper asked.

"I don't want to talk about it, period. But you asked, and you have a right to know," I said.

"If you're sure."

"I had killed Nika's Mother and Kiska's brother – who I never learnt the name of – and I was about to kill Nika. There was a lot of blood… it was hard to concentrate. And… there was something different about this boy. He was fast – not as fast as me, but faster than any human could be. Harder to kill. I still had a conscience, I was seriously considering just letting them go, thinking we could come to an understanding. But then the back door blew open. It was just gust, but it blew his scent right in my face. He smelled so…" I trailed off, remembering. The scent had been overwhelming, more tempting than I had believed possible.

"So… indescribable. Unimaginable. Tempting. And…" I paused, struggling to find the right words. "He didn't smell like humans do. I don't mean that he was just more tempting – although he was – he smelt different. And now… it makes sense. Because I'm not sure at all that he really was human. And the strange thing was… after I'd fed I didn't feel any fuller at all. I was still thirsty. It was as if he was completely hollow. Empty."

Jasper stopped walking and looked me straight in the eye. I stared back at him, not understanding. His thoughts were moving so fast they weren't even intelligible anymore, just racing waves of disbelief.

"Jazz, what…?"

Jasper's face suddenly lit up with an incredibly rapid change of emotions that were almost as hard to follow as his thoughts. First there was confusion, then searching as if he were trying to remember something, then realisation, then disbelief.

And then complete and utter horror.

**A BIG SHOUT OUT to babiewoo (hi!) for reviewing a lot (she's the only person I actually know whose reviewed outside of fanfiction :¬( ), to Bre for reviewing every chapter and especially to Mytai for pushing us past the "3 reveiws a chapter please!" barrier for the first time ever! And thanks to Closetcullen, irock329, RickieBeaumont, Stephvamp25, Emily and Casmin for there reviews/ multiple reviews!!!!**

**Sorry its quite short, I'm mostly thinking on my feet and I want to try to upload every 4 days or so. Well, I enjoyed writing it a lot more than I thought, the original chapter I'd planned was nothing like this, haha.**

**And to Emily, are you the Emily I know from school or are you someone I've never met before? Just curious.**

**Review :D**

**And just so I know, do you prefer longer chapters that take quite a bit longer to write but are mostly better, or shorter chapters that update quicker, but drag things out a bit?**

_**REVEIWS = COOKIES!!!!!!**_


	7. Inissa

**Because the last chapter went completely off course, this is gonna be harder to write cuz I have to get it back on track. Don't worry, you get all the answers here, but its nowhere near the end!**

Edward's Pov

Jasper's thoughts began to stop whirling until there was just a single word going round in his head, over and over. I had no idea what it meant; I think it was Russian. But something about the word was strange, familiar, and slightly unnerving.

_Inissa_.

Pronounced Eye–nissa, according to Jasper's thoughts. It reminded me of snakes, or those blank masks with the eye holes in, or something like that.

Yeah, it was creepy.

"Jasper, what the hell is _Inissa_?"

He finally came out of his trance-like state.

"This is bad, Edward. This is very, very bad." And then he began to run without a backwards glance. I looked after him for a few seconds and then began to follow, catching up and then over taking, blocking his path. Without time to dodge, he skidded rapidly to a stop.

"Edward, get out of the way!" He snarled. I was slightly taken aback; he'd never used that exact tone with me. Although he was snarling, he wasn't angry at all.

He was desperate.

Scared.

"I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on. This concerns me more than it concerns you."

"Concern?" Jasper said incredulously. He burst out laughing for some unfathomable reason. "Concern? Oh, if I were you, Edward, I'd be a _lot_ more than concerned."

"I'm not going to ask again. What the _hell_ is going on?"

Jasper began to talk in nervous whispers, looking around cautiously, as if we were being watched.

_Were_ we being watched?

The words came out so fast that even I had trouble following them, tumbling over each other in their hurry to get out.

"I-I I can't explain it. It's complicated. We need to run, now. We'll go get the others, and then we have to leave."

"That's not an explanation!" I said tensely.

"_Inissa_, Edward. You don't understand. _Inissa_. The taking of a soul."

A sudden shiver shook through my spine.

_The taking of a soul._

"No," I murmured in disbelief, shaking my head. "I don't have a soul."

"Yes, you do, Edward. You always have done." Jasper began to pace up and down, no longer running. "Nika's father. Would you say he was soulless?"

"Yes," I replied without even having to think. "Yes, if anyone was soulless – and I still think vampires are – then he would be."

Apparently this was the wrong answer, because Jasper stopped pacing and put his head in his hands.

"There's a-a Russian legend. The first born son of those who are soulless… are different."

"Define different." I said, suddenly very intrigued, not even bothering to point out that he sounded like a lame camp counsellor trying badly to tell a ripped off scary story. I mean, come on! Souls? I didn't have one. It had been destroyed a long time ago. If it had ever existed at all.

"They inherit the soulless state from their fathers. It's different for them because they didn't make themselves soulless, they inherited it." Jasper glanced at my rather unshocked look. "Don't you get it? A person without a soul is… is… isn't really a person at all. They're like a shell in their emotions and their actions – that's why they feel so cold. But there's more than that. The soul is what makes a human a human – I'm not talking about just characteristics – I'm talking about physical and mental abilities. Without the soul, they don't have earthly bounds. They're stronger and faster and basically more powerful. But it's so much more than that. They can control people. They can completely take over the people, destroy them entirely, burn them alive from the inside." I winced. "They're one of the most powerful things in the world. And they are a mortal enemy of every other immortal. Vampires, werewolves the lot."

"Are they stronger than us?"

"It's hard to say – they're different. About 150 years ago there was a big bout of them that got out of hand. The Volturi stepped in and they thought all were destroyed. Maria told me about it, it had happened shortly before I got changed. It was kept very quiet, she only knew because there had been one in the area and the Volturi had asked her what she knew, which wasn't really a lot. They were very rare; I think most were in Europe and Asia."

"Okay… I think. But Nika is _dead_. How can he still be doing this?"

Jasper gave me a long look, and then, quite suddenly, blocked off his thoughts, thinking very loudly in Russian.

"Stop that," I snapped. He kept it up without looking at me. "Fine then, here's another question. When did you learn Russian? You never mentioned it."

Jasper sighed, and for a moment I thought he wasn't going to answer. "Do you remember… a few years after we met?"

"Yes. But I don't know specifically what you mean."

"There was a bad year. I kept slipping."

"Ah. I remember."

"It was really bad. I slipped three times in half a year. And I really wanted to stop, I hated doing it, but… I couldn't stop myself. It got to the point when I was rarely trusted alone at all."

"You spent a lot of time being guarded by Emmett."

"Yes. I knew he would be the easiest to persuade. I started doing bets with him, who can swim the length of the entire river the fastest, usually."

"But I remember that house. Swimming the entire river would take hours."

"Exactly. I'd always start off a little bit behind. Emmett wouldn't even notice if I slipped away, he'd be so engrossed in the race. I snuck off most of the time." I looked up at him, alarmed. He didn't mean he'd hunted humans all those times? Jasper and Emmett had spent about 5 nights a week together.

Had he hunted 5 humans a week in private, so he wouldn't get tempted at other times?

Could Jasper really kill that much?

No. No, I didn't think so. He was just naturally a good person, even if he didn't believe it. And there were the eyes to…

"No, it's not what you think," Jasper murmured. It was so annoying, his thoughts being blocked off. I hadn't realised how good he was at it, he'd never really blocked me before. "I knew I could manage to spend time with humans; I had to, I kept hurting Alice. Every time I slipped, she was so disappointed, though she tried not to be. I applied for night classes. Russian, it was one of the few that we didn't already have to sit through at school. I started sitting on a small table at the back, and every lesson I would move a little bit forward, closer to the people."

_One step at a time._

The phrase flashed quite suddenly through Jasper's mind and suddenly he was smiling. Just in those few seconds, his thoughts were unguarded. His mind was on the random phrase, but after a second, it snapped worriedly back to something else. Jasper thought about it for a full three seconds before realising what he had done and blocking me again.

Too late.

I stared at him in horror, his expression matching my own.

"Edward, I-"

"How could you not tell me this?!" I yelled. "This changes everything!" I turned around and walked away, climbing into a tree, glaring down at Jasper. Then, quite suddenly I jumped down from the tree, my thoughts still spinning, but one definite fact and one definite solution staying absolutely firm.

Nika wasn't dead. He never was. And yet, he'd never been alive, either. He wasn't dead, wasn't alive, was stuck somewhere in the middle, a little like us, but in a completely different way.

And that gave us a problem.

How can you kill something that isn't even alive?

You couldn't. According to Jasper's mind, it was impossible.

Nika was still here. Lurking somewhere inside me, ready to come out wherever he saw fit. I almost thought I felt a cold swirling from somewhere just below my chest. But I wasn't concerned about myself as I was about them. _When_ he came back, he would be better at this, he would now how to play the most deadly of games. And he could take them all.

_Inissa._

But hang on. There was something. A tiny, impossibly, miniscule hope. I wouldn't survive.

But I would win.

I remembered something I'd tried my hardest to block out, concentrating very hard on the two week old memory, from when I was Nika.

_I struggled furiously against icefire. I was being burned, yet I felt like… I don't know. Like I was underwater, thick black water, more like oil than anything else, pushing me down underneath, drowning me…_

_I kept swimming, kicking and clawing at the invisible surface. I could just make out Jasper's face through the black haze, and sometimes hear his voice, sounding distorted._

_I was so tired._

_So tired of fighting against the black icefire._

_What was the use of fighting, when I had lost so hopelessly and obviously? What was the point? Why couldn't I stop? Just for a little while. Just long enough for the black water to drag me under enough so I couldn't fight._

_Was this to be the end, then? The sunset of my life?_

_The Icefire Sunset. I smiled in spite of myself. How poetic._

_What last words._

_Except they weren't, I remembered. A distant memory, it seemed, another time, thought it had been just ten minutes. I'd asked "Can I rest?". _

_Can I rest?_

_Now, those were last words. How ironic._

_Why couldn't I rest? I was so tired of fighting, of keeping going, of this whole mess that had quite suddenly become my life._

_Yes. I would rest, I decided. It would be so easy, to let myself sink into the black water, just to travel down and down, into the water. Never having to fight, to push on. Just to rest, to drown, forever…_

Esme.

_The name appeared quite suddenly in my head. _Esme_. I couldn't give up on her; it would hurt her so much. And Carlisle too. And Alice and Jasper and Emmett and Rosalie._

_Well. Maybe Rosalie wouldn't mind quite as much…_

_No._

_I wouldn't do it. I _would_ keep fighting. I would _win_. _

_I grasped up through the water, fighting harder and harder now. Jasper's face came back into view. I heard voices, one of them Jasper's and one that I couldn't quite place. That seemed to be coming from me. I hated that voice instantly, knowing it belonged to whatever made the icefire and the black water. _

"_Do you know where Edward is?" Jasper asked, his voice sounding wobbly and unclear to me._

"_He's still here. Underneath. Fighting. But he's not strong enough." The voice said._

_No. _No_. I'm here. I'm fighting. I'll _win_._

"_Why are you controlling him?" Jasper said._

"_He killed me. And the killer's killer must be killed." _

_What the hell was that supposed to mean?_

"_I'm sorry, what?" Jasper said, his eyebrows knitting together. _

"_But we can only carry on together," the other voice said. If Edward dies, so do I…"_

The flash back ended quite suddenly. Jasper looked at me suspiciously, noting my change in emotions. I reached into my jacket pocket - Jasper tracking my every move – and pulled out a small silver rectangle. I chucked it to him, Jasper's wrist flicking out to catch it. He glanced into the palm of his hand, looking first confused then alarmed.

"_No way_! Edward if you _seriously_ think- I can't _believe_- _NO_!"

The object was a lighter.

Jasper finally managed to form a sentence more than two words.

"Edward, there is no way in the world I am going to kill you. What would that even achieve? I can't believe…" He went back into mumbling furiously.

"You were there Jazz. You heard him. He said that if I die, so does he. It's that simple."

"No. Just… _No_." I read his mind to see is he was wavering at all. He was still blocking me, though for what I don't know.

"Why won't you do this? For me? For you? For _Alice_?" It was a dirty trick, pulling on his heart strings this way. But absolutely necessary.

"For Esme?" Jasper asked angrily. I froze. Jasper wasn't playing fair either. "For Carlisle? How the hell do you think this would make them feel?"

"It will keep them safe," I whispered, already less convinced.

"No, Edward. Not going to happen. We don't know Nika will come back anyway."

"He never left! He's still here, inside me, right now. Any single random moment, he could be here. I can't risk that!"

"No. Not while you're still fine." I picked up on his words at the same time he did. "And that does _not_ mean I'll kill you if he comes back."

"Fine. I'll do it myself. I could get a grenade or something and set it off, problem solved."

Jasper gasped.

"You will not. If you even try, God help me I'll tell the others. We're a big family, we can have you under guard 24/7."

Crap. I couldn't have the others know about this. And Jasper was right, it wouldn't work. Alice would freak out if she saw…

"Then you do it. Please. For the others. For them all. Keep them safe." I pleaded.

Jasper groaned painfully.

"Why are you making me do this?"

"You understand. You felt it, Jazz. And it's not just for them. I'd rather _die_ right now then go through that _ever_ again. _Please."_

Jasper looked at me for a long, long moment. The silence stretched between us, going on forever, or so it seemed as I looked into his dark amber eyes. His mind was completely blank, but behind it I could make out the millions of racing patterns that were his thoughts. For a while I didn't think he'd reply. But then he did.

"Okay."

**What do you think? Do think Edward's gonna die, or are you relying on the authors to big love of Edward to keep him alive? Do you think Jasper would be strong enough to kill Edward? More importantly, do you think **_**I**_** would be strong enough to? Please Review! **

**And, I know it's a bit late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLA AND RENESMEE!!!!!! **

**AND HAPPY TWILIGHT THURSDAY!!!**

**Yes, I know it's supposed to be twilight **_**Tuesday **_**but me and my friends celebrate twilight Tuesday, twilight Thursday, and midnight sun monday, lol!**

**Yes, I am obsessed with twilight. If you have a problem with that you will be eaten by the magic corn vampires of the Bermuda TRIANGLE!!!!!!!  
**

 **(???)**

**Sugar high, sorry.**

**After the next chapter, I'm skipping forward to just before Bella's 18****th****!**

**REVEIWS = COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. If looks could kill

**This is a filler "as time goes by" type chapter to fill in a few blanks. With a bit of drama added in. Am I doing too much we're-all-gonna-die type stuff? I've done it in all the other chapters, although not so much in the last couple. Hmmm…**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!**

Edward's Pov

Alice was waiting for us outside when we got home. Her face said it all. She was so angry, so terrified. I took one look at her, picked her up and ran back into the forest, stopping only after we were a good five miles away, Jasper not far behind.

"Put me _down_!" She screeched, the pitch of her voice painful right next to my over sensitive ears.

"Let her go, Edward," Jasper said calmly, a trace of a threat behind his soothing tone.

"You're not going to run off," I said to her.

"I'm not making any promises," she hissed.

"It wasn't a question," I muttered, my tone just as poisonous as hers. I was vaguely annoyed as I felt Jasper's calm spread threw me. I set Alice back on the ground. Alice looked at me for a second, then leapt back at me, nails out, clawing at my skin (apparently Jasper hadn't tried to calm her). My eyes turned black as wave after wave of fury spread through me.

How _dare_ she? Did she _honestly_ think this was easy for me? Did she honestly think I wasn't _hurting_ so bad inside? She'd never been through this. Who was she to judge? I leapt back at her, a furious roar ripping through my throat.

"EASY!!!" Jasper roared, sounding a lot like Emmett when no one listens to him. He leapt between us and both of us stopped. Neither of us could afford to hurt Jasper, we both needed him; Alice for love, and me for death. Even if we had a decent chance of beating him, we couldn't do it. "Alice, you can't tell_ anyone_ about this."

"Give me one good reason."

Jasper stared at her for a long, long moment, thinking. I saw the path of his thoughts and looked up, alarmed.

"Jasper, are you sure-"

"I hate you for making me do this," He whispered. I wasn't sure who he was talking to – me, Alice, or even himself. I watched Alice very carefully.

"Brace yourself," I murmured.

Jasper's eyes shut tightly and he seemed to be concentrating, his lips moving silently. I looked at him, and then, sure in the knowledge he was serious, leapt so I was less than a foot away from her, in case she fell.

Alice looked from me to Jasper, her face a mask of suspicion and anger.

Then agony.

She fell back, shock and horror and pain twisting her features into a scream. I caught her before she hit the ground, reading her thoughts. They were incoherent with the pain of the burning ice.

I looked at Jasper, very alarmed. He'd been planning to give her a very small, diluted dose like she'd already experienced to remind her (She'd been healed before the pain hit, thankfully). Jasper was staring at her, his wide eyes glowing white with some form of energy.

_If looks could kill… _

I looked deep into Jasper's mind, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

_I can't stop. Why can't I stop? Alice! Oh, I'm hurting her so much._

_And I._

_Can't._

_Stop._

Shit. I thought. What the hell? According to Jasper's mind, it would be hard enough to get Alice to feel the smallest amount of the pain. It shouldn't be this much.

He should be able to stop.

What do I do? Alice showed no sign that she had any ideas and Jasper… I've already explained about him.

"Jasper?" I said urgently. "What do I do? Think it!"

_I don't know! I can't stop. Get Alice away from me. Right now. Edward, what's happening?_

"I-I don't know. I think maybe Nika took advantage of what you were doing."

_My fault. Alice is burning alive and it is my fault._

_My fault._

"Shut up. You couldn't have known. Be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate."

Jasper had to be concentrating on someone quite hard to be able control their emotions like this. Of course, at the moment Jasper was thinking very hard about Alice, but there was no way I could stop him from doing that in this situation.

Unless…

If I could just distract him for a second, it might be enough for Jasper to take control.

I looked at Alice's shaking body in my arms, so incredibly cold. I leant down to whisper in her ear, to low for Jasper or Nika to hear.

"Alice? Can you hear me? I know it's hard to talk, so think your answer."

There was a long pause, then Alice replied.

_Yes. I… it burns._ Even her thoughts were scarily faint.

"I know. It will stop."

_Edward, wait. Is… is Jasper doing this?_

I thought for a few moments, chewing over my answer_._

"Not deliberately. I'll explain more fully later. Just listen for a minute: I'm gonna try something to stop it. When it stops, you have to get up and run. Immediately. It will be a bit of a shock if it leaves suddenly, I expect. But you must ignore that, and run."

_I'm not leaving you here. And I'm most definetly _not_ going to let Jasper kill you. Not now. Not _ever_._

"I'll explain later."

_Yes, you will._

"Okay, here goes." I lifted my hands out from underneath Alice and glanced at Jasper, judging the distance. His white glowing eyes paid me no attention.

I leapt at him, shoving him down on to the ground. "Alice, run!" I yelled, keeping him on the ground. Jasper's power was incredible – but he had to be concentrating on his subject in order for it to work. Simply knocking him over had turned out to be a successful enough idea.

"Are you alright?" I asked him. He didn't reply for a few seconds, probably in shock. I looked into his eyes as they suddenly changed from white to his normal gold in the space of the second; I glanced into his mind and felt a juddering tremor pass through him as the ice receded at an alarming speed.

"Oh," he gasped.

I heard a faint, ominous rustle somewhere in the trees and looked up had happened _now_.

Jasper's Pov

I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop.

Alice.

How could I possibly be lucky enough to gain the love of a creature as amazing as her and then be horrible enough to put her in the utmost pain?

I could see her face quite clearly, a distorted mess of pain and shock. Edward was near, holding her.

It felt like there was ice flowing through my veins.

"Jasper?" I heard Edward's voice, clear and urgent. "What do I do? Think it!" It took me a few seconds to register his voice and what he was saying and what I had to do. My thoughts seemed so muddled.

"_I don't know!" _I thought._ "I can't stop. Get Alice away from me. Right now. Edward, what's happening?"_

"I-I don't know. I think maybe Nika took advantage of what you were doing."

_My fault. Alice is burning alive and it is my fault._

_My fault._

"Shut up. You couldn't have known. Be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate."

What was I supposed to do? Try not to think?

Edward turned to Alice and began whispering in an impossibly quiet tone. I couldn't see her reply. Was she okay?

No. Of course she wasn't.

What was I doing?

There was a short second of silence as Edward stopped talking quite abruptly. I wondered briefly if anything had happened, but then I was on the ground. I gasped in pain as the ice that had been flowing freely through me disappeared instantly, leaving me reeling.

It was very disorientating. I looked straight in front of me and saw tree branches and a slither of grey sky, and realised that Edward must have pushed me over. I spotted him in the corner of my vision, looking at me as if he expected me to say something significant.

"_Oh_," I finally murmured. There were not enough words in the world to describe the explosion of emotions going off around me. There were a million different things going through my head. What had happened anyway? What were we going to do about it? Where was Ali-

Alice.

And in that second, I hated myself so much. I hated myself more than I'd ever hated Maria, or Nika combined.

There was a quiet rustle from somewhere in the trees, but I paid no attention to it.

"_Alice." _I whispered, my voice filled with horror.

There was another rustle and I noticed Edward was looking up cautiously. I glanced absent mindedly in the direction of the noise, not really caring for its cause, just thinking about Alice.

Except the _cause_ was Alice.

She was sitting there, hunched over a branch, peering down at me. Edward breathed a sigh of relief. Alice swung over the branch and landed catlike on the balls of her feet.

There was a long silence.

"Are you okay?" I stared at her. The strange thing was, she was asking the question, not me.

"I'm so, so, sorry-"

"For what?"

Was she nuts?

"_That_."

"I know. But what was that?"

"That was what Edward felt," I said quietly. "For about three hours." Alice winced.

"But _killing_ him?"

"Only if it comes back." Edward answered this time.

"Why?"

"Two reasons, the second more selfish." I rolled my eyes. There was nothing selfish about Edward. "The first is to keep you and the others safe. The second is because I don't think I can survive that again. And the truth is – I'd _rather_ die."

"But there's not much chance it will come back anyway," I lied smoothly, hating every second. "If we just leave it alone… and if I don't do _that_ again."

"Are you gonna tell?" Edward asked, his voice quite small.

I thought Edward's voice sounded remarkably childish, but I didn't think it would be at all appropriate to burst out laughing then.

"Not yet," Alice answered, after a pause. "But only for the others sake. If it actually gets to the point where you'll do it…"

"Alice," Edward interrupted. "I'd rather die – then go through that again."

She stared at him for a few moments.

"Then I guess we'll just see how things play out."

She turned and walked calmly back to the house, Edward with her. I remained there a moment, following slowly. I'd just realised something. I conveyed my thoughts to Edward, who nodded grimly.

I knew I had made the decision to kill Edward_, if_ Nika should ever come back. But if Alice had seen me doing this, then that could only mean one thing.

There was no _if_ about it.

He _was_ coming back.

**Right guys, here's the thing. Next chapter will be about a week before bella's birthday. The bad thing is, as you may know if you actually bother reading these a/n things, that I wrote the first 5 chapters before uploading anything. I managed to write the next three in my spare time. But now I've run out of time, so uploading might become unreliable. Sorry, its just that I'm really busy; right now I'm writing this at 6:34 a.m cuz mornings the only time I have spare to right.**

**And to all the people who asked about Edward dying, I CANT TELL U THAT IT WOULD SPOIL THE STORY!!!!!!!**

**I'm just gonna say that my story is very twisted, and I think you're all be very surprised.**

**REVEIWS = COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	9. A single strand of Hope

**Whoooo!!!! We're onto part 2! **

**I was a bit disappointed to see that the last chapter had just 2 reveiws. Are you all blanking me cuz of the whole I-might-kill-Edward thing? That's a bit mean. Or is it just coz you thought the soul thing sounded corny? If it is, please tell me. In a review! **

**Not sure about the date. I know Renesmee was born in 2008 according to the books, and bella was just about 19, so technically, it would be 2007 when she turned 18. I think…**

**And does anyone know what date Jasper's birthday is? If I can't find out, I'm just gonna say October 11****th****, cuz I dunno… it just sounds Jasperesqe (haha, I made up that word, I am the most jasperesqe – I know it should have a u after the q, but I think it looks better without the U in it – person I know!) **

**IMPORTANT:**

**SO this chapter was gonna just be a filler/ catch up, but as sometimes happened, this went a different direction and some of this is amongst the best stuff I've ever written. Well, it's a lot more poetic, anyhow. Most of this is just a much deeper look about how Edward feels.**

**Well, let's get on with it!**

Jasper's Pov (2007)

"Jasper, do you want to go hunting?" Edward asked, his voice calm. I glanced at him. his eyes were bright gold; he'd hunted just two days ago. I frowned at him. Something was wrong. Apart from the eyes, there was something else. His emotions didn't match his voice at all. They were strange and jumpy, cautious. Very determined for some reason. With something else that he was trying very hard not to feel…

What…?

"Thank you for emotional the emotional analysis, Jasper; can we go now?" Edward said in his almost-impossible-to-hear-whisper. He sounded pretty pissed off.

I sighed and followed him out the door. We ran for a while, me following Edward, still having no idea what was going on. He stopped rather abruptly in the middle of the woods, leaning against a tree, sighing deeply as if he were exhausted.

"I _am_ exhausted," he muttered.

"Is that why you're being so grumpy lately?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes, but then sighed again and nodded. "And – another thing – how exactly are you exhausted?"

"That's the reason I called you out here to talk." He shut his eyes. "Try not to freak out to much about this, okay?"

I nodded.

Edward's emotions began to change. First it was just a bit nervous, worried. Then I felt a cold burning swirling around him, growing stronger and stronger until I was burning to, burning just like Edward-

"Stop!" I yelled. There was a pause, and then the cold began to be folded in on itself until Edward's emotions were the only thing left.

No, not the only thing. Somewhere, a long way down, I could still feel the cold swirling around, furious at being beaten.

Whoa. The icefire thing actually has emotions of its own?

"Apparently so," Edward murmured.

I turned to him.

"How long has this been going on?" Edward pursed his lips; he knew I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Three weeks," He muttered in a voice I barely heard.

"_Three weeks?!_" I exclaimed.

"I asked you not to freak out." I gave him a look. He sighed. "I was handling it, okay? I could barely feel it at first." Now that, was a downright lie, I could tell from his emotions. "Thanks for that Jazz, really made me feel better. I had Bella; I couldn't bare her to be worried. And she gave me a lot of extra strength; it really helped. But he got stronger. It got to the point where I was constantly on my fighting it, never taking a break."

"Hence the exhaustion," I put in. He glared. "Look, we've got to go tell Carlisle, he has to know something to help. And the rest of the family too. Including Bella."

"No." Edward shook his head. "No, no, no. That can't happen. They can't do anything. You can."

"_What?"_

Edward reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out, chucking it to me. I caught it easily and glanced down at it.

It was a grenade.

"Edward!" I exclaimed in protest. "I never thought you were serious."

"About the grenade or about dying?" He queried.

"Both! Mostly dying, though. Where the hell did you get a grenade anyway?"

"Our friend Jenks."

I sighed.

"Jasper, I just thought this would be easier for you. Quicker."

"Why can't you do it, like you said you would?"

"Because, if I still have that grenade when I'm… not myself - I don't even want to think about what could happen to Bella, or any of you." His voice took on a strange tone. "Jasper... I can't quite remember… you said that Nika told you who was going to die."

"I didn't say that." I muttered immediately, blocking my mind off as soon as the words were out.

"Yes you did," Edward answered. "Why are you blocking me? I _need_ to know."

"Edward. I didn't say anything about that. How did you know?"

Edward paused, his mouth moving as if he was trying to figure out which lie to tell me.

"I'll know if you're lying," I reminded him. he sighed.

"Fine. Nika told me."

"He can do that?!" I asked, shocked.

"Apparently so." I groaned – this could only be bad. "It said that that Bella was going to d-die."

I didn't answer. Edward sighed and continued. "I thought it could easily be a trick of his – so I thought I'd ask you."

I stayed silent.

"And now you won't answer," Edward confirmed.

I nodded. Edward stared into my eyes, probing information. "When did you become so good at blocking your mind?" He wondered, talking as much to himself as to me.

It was a distraction, that much was obvious. He wanted to get me talking, get me to slip up. I kept my answers to a bare minimum and hoped he'd get the message.

"I like my privacy," I muttered in clipped tones.

"Hmmm. You know, it's kind of ironic." I kept silent. "Because – until Nika came – I had no idea how good you were at blocking you're mind. But until he came back, you had no idea how good _I_ am at blocking my emotions."

I was suddenly slightly uneasy. Edward let out a bitter, humourless chuckle. He sounded hollow.

He glanced across at me as if asking permission.

I had no idea what he was asking, but I nodded slightly.

Then he showed me what he was really feeling.

There was love. Lot's of it, far more then I ever imagined. No wonder he controlled his emotions; I could only imagine the jokes and innuendos Emmett would make if he ever found out how much love Edward felt. Mixed with the love was something harder, tempting, sharp and scorching; Bella's blood, I realised, wincing. But soon, more feelings began to emerge, swirling around Bella, cutting through all his emotions, mixing them all up into something very painful and confusing. There was constant worry that Bella might be harmed, worse, that he might be the one to harm her. There was confusion. There was determination. There was cautiousness. There was disbelief. There was the rather unfamiliar feeling of exhaustion that I'd felt in him earlier. There was more doubt, worry, cynicism then I ever believed he would feel. There was no peace; there was never peace. And there – rising above it all like the melody of a song, far stronger then I'd feared, far much more then Edward wanted me to know – was the icefire.

I winced at its presence, but before I had time to react, there was more emotions. These were deeper, darker.

Agonizing.

There was the bloodlust again, the never ending fear; not only that Bella might be harmed – but that he might be the one to do it. He was afraid, so incredibly afraid that he might hurt her in anyway. There was the sheer desperation, the need to know whether there was danger. There was the heartwrenching, searing pain that she might be hurt.

That she might die.

That it would be his fault.

I endured it, what else could I do? I was in to much shock, in to much pain – in too much of Edward's pain – to do anything else.

Until he quickly began to force himself to be calm.

My mind was still – somehow – blocked.

Edward breathed a deep sigh.

"How do you stand it?" I finally asked.

"I don't get a choice."

"You could've come to me," I reminded me.

"I didn't want anyone to suffer more than necessary. Jasper – I need to know – is B-Bella going to die?"

My mouth opened and closed with nothing to come out. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to say it.

Edward was biting his lip hard. It suddenly struck me how… how young he looked. Standing there biting his lip, so afraid, his hands clenched into fists. He needed to know this, his entire existence depended on it. I didn't understand. Edward was clever – exceptionally so, even for a vampire. If it had taken me this long to say it, then surely he knew the answer? Suddenly – I did understand. He couldn't accept it. Not while he still had this, this single strand of hope at the top of a deep, deep abyss. If that hope should disappear, should snap under all the weight on it, then there would be nothing left.

And he would never stop falling.

I was to be the one to snap that strand.

I took a single stride forward, so I was standing right in front of him.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice empty. For a second there was nothing, just silence as Edward took this in.

But the next second was rather different.

Edward's pain suddenly exploded ten-fold, growing bigger, stronger. Edward did something different from what I'd expected; instead of breaking down like I'd thought, he abruptly shoved me away for him – or maybe threw was the better word.

Yes, threw. Edward threw me straight across the clearing we were in and into a tree. Then he turned and ran. By the time I was back on my feet, he was long gone.

**Yeah, well this chapter had a point I could've gotten across in about 1 ½ pages, but I kinda like it like this. By next chapter we should get onto Bella's B-day! Finally!**

**And for future reference, I will TRY VERY HARD to update once a week, every Wednesday. If I don't I am very sorry.**

**AND TO ALL THOSE WHO REVEIWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Thank you very much and please help yourself to some milk and cookies from my imaginary restaurant.**

**AND TO ALL THOSE WHO'VE READ BUT HAVEN'T REVEIWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**REVEIWS = (imaginary) COOOOOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

***puts on deep, scary voice***

**May the cookie monster have mercy on your souls…**


	10. Get Bella OUT!

**Damn! Sorry if I'm late I've been snowed under by homework (which in my world means I've had the same amount of homework as normal, but I've been to twilight obsessed to do it! And I hurt my finger so typing stings, but I'm not about to let something like that stop me! And then, when I had finished the chapter, it wouldn't even let me upload! Not fair!!!). Please don't become angry mob-like on me! (looking at you, girlwithwings329). **

**Incase you were wondering, Inissa is not actually a Russian legend, its just one of the many crazy ideas in the warped world called my mind. **

**I did this all without new moon (a friend is borrowing it) so sorry if some of the lines are wrong.**

**Bella's Pov in here somewhere. Funny, you'd think, what with being so twilight obsessed, and bella being the main character in the books, I'd be able to Bella's Pov easily. **

**Not so.**

Jasper's Pov

I kept my eyes on Edward, two rows in front of me. It was fifth period; he had returned late last night and acted like nothing was wrong.

The weirdest part was that he wasn't acting.

As he had hurriedly explained to me early this morning, rushing to get to Bella's early for her 18th. Nika had gone. He'd been running away from home, not even sure if he was coming back, hating Nika, hating him with every fibre of his being –

And then he'd gone.

He wasn't lying, or trying to cover anything up. It had truly just disappeared.

I didn't buy it. I didn't believe that Nika would just give up.

Edward shifted around in his chair, annoyance and nerves coming off him. He was annoyed that I kept watching him, and nervous, because in truth – he didn't believe it anymore then I did.

The bell suddenly went; I was so wired up I jumped about a foot in the air. Edward rolled his eyes, pursed his lips, and left the classroom without waiting for me.

I followed warily.

Bella's Pov (At her Birthday party)

Damn. I was going to get Alice for this. I don't care if she's a psychic, she sure as hell will _not_ see this coming.

Alice smiled brightly at me, practically bouncing on the spot.

"Sorry, Bella," Carlisle stage-whispered. "We couldn't rein Alice in."

_I'll say_, I thought as I looked around again at the thousands of ribbons, candles, and flowers that coated every surface.

I gave the evil pixie my best death glare. She smiled again, as did the rest of them at my reaction. Even Jasper had a hard time trying not to smile, and he's been acting quiet today, even for him.

"There she is, blushing as usual," Emmett said. "I need to step outside for a moment," He randomly added. "Don't do anything funny while I'm gone."

"I'll try," I muttered.

Alice skipped back to my side. Didn't she know how to stay still? I swear; I have never seen anybody get so excited over _someone else's_ birthday.

"Open this one first Bella!" she squealed. "It's from Jasper, Rose and Emmett."

I reached the brightly wrapped gift, stroking the paper. It was so beautiful, knowing Alice it was probably ten bucks a sheet, created by some specialist French wrapping paper designer. I lifted up a corner carefully, trying hard not to tear it.

"I hate slow people," Alice said suddenly, snatching the present back and tearing off the paper. I heard Emmett laugh whole-heartedly from outside while Edward tried to wrestle the present off Alice. Finally, Edward won, and handed me back my present. I considered opening it even slower just to annoy Alice, but then, seeing the look on her face, hurriedly ripped it open.

It was a hi-tech box of some sort, with lots of random digits on it; it felt very light considering that Alice had probably demanded something pricey be bought. I opened the box, frowning at the empty space inside.

"Uh… thanks," I said slowly. Everyone laughed.

"It's a radio for your truck," Jasper explained. "Emmett's outside installing it, so you can't take it back." I glared at Alice, I was certain she was behind this.

Alice turned rapidly on the spot, picking up an envelope and handing it to me.

"This ones from Esme and Carlisle," She beamed. I grinned at them, faking gratefulness. It _was_ nice of them to get me a present, I supposed, but I really didn't want anything. I carefully opened the envelope, reached inside, and pulled out a card and two first class aeroplane tickets to Jacksonville.

Mom!

"Oh, you guys!" I squealed. "You shouldn't have!" I ran across the room and hugged Esme tightly. She was already like a second Mum to me. Alice, of course, didn't give me time to enjoy this moment properly, pulling me back to her side, much to Edward's annoyance.

"Open the one from me and Edward now!" I turned to glare at Edward, shocked.

"You promised!" I whined, my face slipping into a pout.

"I swear I never spent a dime." I nodded slowly. Alice picked up a small, slim present lying on the side; she was reluctant to pass it, I could tell she wanted to open it much more than I did. If she hadn't already put me in such a bad mood, I probably would've let her.

Then everything happened at once.

Edward was suddenly on the floor, his teeth clenched tightly together, shaking violently. He was writhing in pain, not even breathing, his beautiful face a distorted mess.

"Edward!" Several voices cried out, mine the loudest, mine the most afraid.

Jasper suddenly straightened from his position leaning against the wall, standing completely rigid for a moment, his hands clenched into fists. Emmett came back in, whistling cheerfully; then he stopped, staring at us all.

"O…kaaaaaay. What I miss?" He asked.

I barely heard him, I was too busy staring down at Edward, who looked terrified, furious, like he was at war.

War with whom?

Himself?

Finally he gasped out something that made faint sense.

"Get……_Bella_……_OUT!_"

One of us finally moved: Jasper.

"We have to leave," he said. "C'mon, we have to go _now_."

"I can't leave him!" I gasped incredulously.

"You heard him, we have to go."

"Why, what's going on?" I asked. I needed to know.

"I'll explain later, but we have to move."

"I'm not leaving!" I protested.

"Emmett," Jasper muttered.

Emmett nodded grimly and grabbed me roughly, pulling me out of the room, out of the house, further and further away from Edward…

I protested feebly, shouting and struggling. I needed to get back to Edward, had to see he was okay.

"Sorry about this, Bella," Emmett muttered, still dragging me.

I fell limp, knowing it was useless.

"What's happening to him?" I whispered.

Jasper moved near me, and I felt a layer of peace sweep through me.

"It's very complicated. You read a lot, right?" I nodded slowly. "Then maybe you've heard of it."

"Of what?" I was wary – if vampires could exist, could all the other myths be true to? I tried to think of some witchcraft-like thing that could make something like this happen, but the only thing that came to mind was a well-worn Harry Potter from my childhood.

"Inissa," Jasper answered, his voice low.

My face, and the others faces remained blank; on Carlisle's however there was a flicker of recognition. I questioned him with my eyes.

"When I was with the Volturi," he began slowly. "In the mid to late nineteenth century there was a huge spout of them. They were extinct, they made sure of it. Terrible business."

"What are they?" My voice was a whisper. "What's Inissa?"

"The taking of a soul," Carlisle and Jasper said simultaneously.

I shuddered, for some reason I suddenly felt incredibly cold.

"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice sounding how I felt, small and scared. We were now in the Cullen's garage, a building around the size of the bottom floor of my house around 50 metres from the house.

"Far away from here. Maybe Alaska," Alice said, speaking for the first time since… that.

"I don't want to drag the Denalis down with us," Carlisle said.

"Maybe that house we lived in a couple of times, in Mobile," Emmett suggested.

"No. No, no, no," Jasper said, stonily faced. "We can't all go to the same place, and we probably shouldn't go places we go normal, familiar places."

"We have to split up?" Esme said doubtfully. Even Emmett looked sceptical, after all, splitting up wasn't exactly renowned for being a good idea in… ooooh just about every film ever made.

"It'll be harder for…it to find us this way."

Carlisle sighed, he liked the idea of splitting up less then anyone else. "Fine. Esme and I will take my car, Rose and Alice in the convertible, Jasper, Emmett and Bella in the jeep. Call every night, let us know if anything happens."

"When are we all going to meet up?" Jasper asked, gritting his teeth. I could tell he didn't like being away from Alice, though it must be nessecary or Carlisle wouldn't have done it. I still didn't really know what was going on, but I sure as hell was demanding an explanation as soon as I got the chance.

"In a week or so, unless something happens first. If something hasn't happened by then, then we should come up with another plan."

Jasper sighed, but then nodded. Rosalie and Emmett started a goodbye make-out session which I cringed away from, Alice and Jasper also began kissing, but they were a lot… less crude about it. Suddenly there was a huge roar that even I heard from the house. Both couples broke off abruptly.

"We need to move," Jasper murmured. "C'mon, Bella, Emmett."

I climbed into the jeep, struggling with the many tailed seatbelt. I remembered the last time I got in this jeep, a year and a half ago, trying to escape from James. Now the same thing was happening, but it was so different to.

I really, really hoped there wasn't a tradition forming.

**Yes, it sucked, I know. And I'm late. I'll try to update once a week, but I am so so busy. If I don't then I'm sorry.**

**And I'm very sad to hear no one's entering my competition, thus far. Come on guys… please? I'll be well sad if no one enters :¬(. Thanks.**

**Reviews – cookies!!!!!!!**

**Seriously tho, could I maybe have some new reviewers? I love the people who are reviewing (babiewoo, girlwithwing329 (formerly irock329, she's got an ace new profile, check it out!) and Bre, mostly, amongst others) but it's always the same faces (pennames, I mean). I know you guys are out there, you've favourited and subscribed, revewing only takes a miture and it really makes my day. **

**So review.**

**Make me happy on the inside.**


	11. Escape

***VERY IMPORTANT***

**For the first time ever I can reveal that there will be a SEQUEL!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It might take a while, but it'll be here eventually.**

**Yeah, this is gonna be real late, I know. See I started writing a chapter, but then I changed my mind and decided to do this chapter first and fit that one in later on. So I had to start a chapter from scratch on the day the other one was due in.**

**Sorry!**

**Hoping to get some answers in here (to questions you might not have even asked, but still). If you have any question about the story (or my other stories) please leave a review or P.M me. I will either answer it or say "you'll find out later on" or something like that. **

Jasper's Pov

I heard a roar emerging from the house, and for a second I thought Edward might be winning. But it was a stupid thought, a fleeting hope. The roar, and the emotions I could still just about feel behind it were all wrong. They were anger, fury and burning hate.

The… the _thing _inside Edward was winning.

And it was going to come after us.

I broke off the kiss with Alice, hating to do so.

"We need to move, Bella, Emmett."

But I was the one who didn't budge. I stared into her Endless golden eyes and whispered three of the most important words in the world.

"I love you," I whispered, so quiet and fast Bella probably couldn't even hear.

"I love you too." Her voice was just as small. "Don't worry Jazz, everything will be okay."

I wanted – no, I needed – to ask if she actually meant that. If she knew everything was going to be okay. Or whether she was just saying it.

I needed to tell her I loved her – even though I had just done so, I needed to say it again. I needed to explain to her just exactly how much she meant to me, how much I needed her. How sorry I was to be parted from her.

There was so much I needed to say. Enough to take eternity, all of time.

But time was one thing we no long had.

I finally looked away. It had only been a second, but it had felt like a forever.

"Emmett, you drive. I need to explain to Bella." Emmett nodded and climbed in the front within a second. I sat in the back with Bella.

"What about the rest of us?" Rose asked from her car, and I remembered the others were almost as knowledge-less as Bella was.

"I'll phone you all. And that reminds me, we have to phone once a night every night to check on each other."

I heard murmured agreements from Rosalie and Carlisle. I couldn't turn my head to look at them; at her. I couldn't look at Alice, because I knew just how much it would hurt. I stared stubbornly at the car floor, knowing I would probably be crying if I could. I was glad I couldn't; if I had to be stuck with Emmett for a week, I would need to stay tough, lest I be cursed with terrible jokes about it for the rest of eternity. I glanced to Bella, who had already climbed in the car and worked out the seatbelt after a struggle. Now her hands were shaking as I felt a tremor of numbness spread through her. Then dizziness swept through her along with a faint wave of nausea. The dizziness grew stronger, so much it affected me badly; this was not helped by the fact that we drove past the house at that particular moment. Suddenly images flew through my head, causing me to gasp out in pain.

There was Emmett lying broken on the ground, gasping in pain much worse than mine, red tinted venom seeping from several wounds.

There was Esme, sobbing tearlessly in the way that always makes you feel so helpless, held by a grim faced Carlisle.

There was Rosalie, punching everything in sight repeatedly until it crumbled, furious yet somehow in agony.

There was Bella, sitting on a bed, hunched in on herself, slowly rocking, tears falling endlessly down her face as she began to shake violently.

There was darkness and I thought it had ended. I gasped out, coughing as I choked on an acrid smell like burning flesh. I was incredibly scared; Alice had not been present in any of these things – what did that mean? What sort of sick game was this thing playing? Edward had not been shown either. Did that mean he'd already lost? Was he completely gone? Did that mean – I could barely think it – that it was going to get Alice too?

Then there was a voice. A hard, cold, cruel, high, young, ruthless, power filled voice that I hated instantly, hated more then anything.

It was _his_ voice.

Nika's.

He was speaking to me, saying words so terrible, so terrifying that my brain refused to hold them, refused to let them in my mind, refused to think of ever again. But the way those words made me feel – I never forgot that.

Exhilarated.

Yes, you heard me right. Exhilarated. They made me feel exhilarated. Those words powered through me, shaking my very being and turning the darkest of dark deeds into something beautiful, something desirable.

I gripped the door tightly, needing something real to hold on to, before it was too late. The piece of door crumbled in my hands. Emmett growled, but I barely heard it.

I was coming back now, coming back to reality.

But not before one last flash could rip through me.

A monster. There was no other word to describe it. A monster, although young and the same size as Alice, a monster without a doubt. Coated in gleaming white shards of what had to be ice, with a cold, cruel, _twisted_ shark's grin on its face. And eyes that were pure, oceanic, gleaming blue.

No, oceanic was no where near big enough a word. They were more electric, bursting with energy, with power. No matter how you tried, you couldn't meet its gaze.

It let out a huge, victorious roar that shook my very being and then I was back in the car, Emmett glaring at me in the mirror.

I let out a raspy, relieved sigh.

"Easy on my car. What are you freaking out about anyway? Christ, your worse than Bella."

I glanced over to Bella; he was right. She was still rather shaken up, but she was slightly calmer. There was no sign of the crying, broken Bella in there.

I forced myself to be calm. Of course there wasn't any sign. It was a mind game. A trick. An illusion.

"We need to get out of here," I said, stating the obvious.

"Anywhere in mind?"

I thought hard; we needed somewhere safe to stay, but somewhere Edward would never go, never dream of going.

I thought hard, my mind wandering to times with the Cullen's, trying to think of somewhere we could be safe.

"Where did you guys live from around 1927 to 1931?"

Emmett frowned. "I don't know. I wasn't a vamp then. Erm… it was a smaller house. In… Oregon. The town had a strange name… Lafayette."

"Okay, that's where we'll go. Edward wouldn't go there, I don't think. It's where Carlisle and Esme lived when he-" I glanced at Bella, not sure how much she knew about Edward's past. "-Went away."

"Inissa," Bella suddenly said.

I jerked up in my seat, a reflex reaction. "What about it?" I said guardedly.

"How come you know so much about it?"

I didn't answer the perfectly acceptable question, looking at her in silence for a moment. She'd picked up on the one thing everyone else had left out. Even Edward didn't know everything and he a goddamn mind reader. I was actually very surprised he hadn't asked the question. My massive reaction when I first figured it out – for all he knew – was based on a single conversation I'd held with Maria. Possibly a Russian lesson or two.

He had a lot less common sense than I'd ever thought.

And Bella was entirely too perceptive for her own good.

And now even Emmett was looking up at me, frowning slightly.

"My… creator told me about it." I knew that would silence Emmett as he knew about my past and why I wouldn't want to talk about it and it would silence Bella because I hoped she was polite enough not to push the point. She didn't know about my past – yet. It was foolish of Edward to allow her into our world, of course it was, but it couldn't have happened any other way considering how he felt about her. She was one of the family now. I would tell her my story, but maybe now was not the best time. God knows she had enough on her plate as it was.

A hand suddenly flew to her mouth and she was abruptly alarmed.

"What is it?"

"What about my Dad? What am I going to tell him?"

"I'll text Carlisle," Emmett offered. A grin lit his face. "He'll pull something off. Runaway child, sick with life-threatening disease, hit by a car-"

"I'd rather not give him a heart-attack, Emmett."

"Yeah, and those wouldn't work anyway," I added. "With the first he'd go mad with the police case; I'm talking major news, all over Forks." Bella blushed scarlet; I guessed she was imagining her picture getting blue-tacked on every other lamppost within a 100 mile radius. "And with the other two Charlie would demand to see her, no matter how "ill" she was." I paused, thinking. "Okay, how about this. Alice planned a surprise holiday in New York, a shop till you drop type thing. We'll be able to pick some clothes up as props."

"Thanks. That sounds a bit far-fetched… but then its Alice, so she probably tried to plan something like that anyway."

"Probably," I agreed.

I texted Carlisle quickly, and then I texted Alice asking if she saw anything coming.

I added a whole row of kisses for the latter. It was amazing how much I was missing her; we'd only been apart for maybe five minutes.

I got replies to both back almost instantly; Carlisle agreed with our plan, Alice had seen our plan and promised to pick up a whole new wardrobe for Bella – but she couldn't see anything. Nothing at all where Edward was concerned and very little for the rest of us. It was worrying her.

That out of the way, I got out my handheld computer. I needed to do a bit of research. Emmett glanced at me, smirking.

"What sort of nerd keeps a computer on his person?"

I growled lowly.

"The sort of nerd that is about to save your fat arse."

"Hey-"

"Guys," Bella interrupted. "Could you possibly try to keep the whole macho vampire testosterone-fuelled crap down to a minimum?"

"Ooooh, Bella," Emmett teased. "Does Edward know about your potty mouth?"

Edward.

_Well done Emmett,_ I thought with a scowl as the atmosphere in the car dropped to below zero.

The car returned to being silent. I carried on staring at the computer screen but I knew I didn't need to put anything in. I already knew everything there was to know.

There was silence for maybe five minutes, then Bella reminded me of something.

"So what is actually going on? You said you'd explain. Why is… Edward coming after us."

She had to phrase it like that, didn't she?

Right now I didn't have the heart to explain that it wasn't Edward anymore. It would crush her. But someone may have to soon.

"The Inissa… need to feed. Just like anything else. The difference being that they have… a rather unique way of going about it."

"They can't eat like you can and they don't eat like vampires do, although this is closer." This was the hard bit. "Instead of feeding on the blood they feed on the person. Not the body, they need that. They feed on the things inside, make them hollow. Namely, their souls."

Bella swallowed.

I sighed, a grim expression planted permanently on my face. "There's more. The strange thing is, considering there strength in all other areas – they have a very limited sense of smell. Maybe about the same strength as yours, which gives them a rather large disadvantage when it comes to tracking and hunting. But it has all of Edward's memories, which is why we had to go somewhere safe yet unfamiliar. And… they can do things. Terrible things. They're very cunning in nature, and very, very powerful. They can play tricks on your mind. Make you believe things that aren't true. Twist you around so even the most dark of deeds can seem wondrous." I looked away for a second. "They play tricks on you, make you see things that aren't there."

She looked up, frowning.

"That's what happened to you."

"What?" I said, forcing myself to be calm. It might not be anything to do with your past, I told myself. It's probably something else, something completely different.

"When we were driving past the house and you broke part of the car door."

"You're going to pay for that, you know," Emmett told me, matter-of-factly.

I ignored him. I was amazed at how observant Bella was, especially with such poor sight.

"Yes. That's what happened to me."

"What did you see-"

"It doesn't matter," I interrupted, convincing myself as much as her. "It was all lies. Whatever they say, don't believe them. Its all lies."

There was another silence, this one only lasting a couple of minutes.

"That doesn't explain why it's coming after us," Bella pointed out.

"You're right. It's coming after us for one simple reason. Hunger. After maybe eighty years of nothing, it's starving. But something about what they choose to feed on. They only feed on those closest to the… the host. Whether they have a choice or if they are just sadistic I don't know." I paused, gauging her reaction. Not much. Either it hadn't sunk in yet or she was even more extraordinary than Edward thought. "This happened once before. In 1990. But that was a lot easier. The situation was completely under control within a day. This time it's so… so much stronger."

"What was it like?" I frowned at her. She repeated her question. "The first time it happened. What was it like?"

"Erm… took us by surprise. Edward's temperature went down very dramatically, so much so that if a human were to touch it their hand would probably stick to it." That was an understatement, but I wasn't foolish enough to tell her the full truth, she'd be terrified. If a human were to touch it, it would tear all the skin and some of the flesh away should they try to get it free. And like myself, should they get too close for too long – the pain would only fade. Fade. Not disappear. Only Fade. Yes, you could bury it in your memories, refuse to so much as think of it – but it would always be there.

I carried on talking. "It was very hard for me to be in the house. I…I could feel it. The way I feel if someone is asleep. It was…" I glanced in to Bella's eyes and knew that I had to be as honest as I could without raising questions or absolutely terrifying her. I would want the same if this was happening to Alice.

_It will happen._

The voice was there, cold and clear and close – so close that I believed it's owner to be right next to me, that harsh shark grin on it's face. But no. Nothing. I glanced across at Emmett and back to Bella; they hadn't noticed anything. It was just me and that voice, still whispering in my ear. Lower and harsher now, different. And sickeningly familiar – to me only.

_Oh, it will happen, Jasper. She will be Lost, lost to me. And so will Bella and Edward and all the rest. You have yourself to thank for that. And then, once I am done with them, I will come for you. You are strong, much stronger than you think. But I will suffice. And you know it. I will win and then the world will burn. Together we shall look down on this pitiful human world and laugh. Laugh as all those self-important, superficial humans scream and run and hide and burn. They killed us, Jasper. They made us burn for their own stereotypical beliefs. They did it to us, to every single one of us, to your precious Alice, to the Volturi, yes, even to me. They burnt us and now we shall burn them. The whole _world_ shall burn. And we will do it together. No longer will you run and hide just like those cowards. No longer will you be" the one who got away; no longer "the boy who ran". This time, you will be great, you will be victorious. Just like you always wanted._

"I _never_ wanted that," I hissed, venom pooling in my mouth. _Lies again,_ I thought hurriedly. _Its all lies. _

"Jasper," Bella said. I looked around, we'd pulled into the shoulder of the road, both of them giving me weird looks.

"I'm fine. This is… this is bringing back a lot of memories, that's all."

Memories buried deep in the dense mass of my brain, things I'd thought were gone, things I'd promised myself I would never see again.

_Get a grip on yourself, _I thought.

"Okay," I carried on explaining where I'd left off, as if nothing had happened. "What he was feeling was… excruciating. And then… strange things began to happen." I carried on explaining what had happened and after twenty seconds Emmett gave me a weird look and resumed driving.

I left out the bit about the grenade, my hand sub-consciously drifting to my coat pocket. I felt the small, cold, metal lump in my pocket without any trace of emotion on my face. If we saw him – I would have to do it. I knew that. To protect the others, to protect Edward. But also – I hated to admit how selfish I was, but it was true – for myself. I realised with self disgust that I would be willing to kill it, to kill Edward in the process – just to finally escape.

Of course, there was another way to escape. It was so simple it screamed at me. If Edward's theory was true – that you could kill a vampire with a grenade – then why should he get that escape?

Why not me?

100 years.

100 years I have suffered.

Exactly a century since I got away.

I'd run and I'd hid and I'd killed and I'd done all those other cowardly things.

But I hadn't escaped.

Not yet.

Maybe not ever.

Unless I did this.

Of course, it may not – I hoped and prayed it would not – come to that.

But it might.

So where did that leave us?

***MORE (so called) IMPORTANT STUFF***

**I am going on holiday for a few days so updating is not going to get much faster; I am so sorry.**

**ANNNNNNNNND… also I am seriously worried. I really, really, really enjoyed writing that paragraph in italics from Inissa's point of view. It gave me really bad goosebumps, and I liked it, it was strangely thrilling. And by the way, I do not hate Russians or anything, I just picked a country at random. **

**LOL!!! At the start of this chapter I revealed there would be a sequel. YAY!!!!! But when the chapter went totally off course as usual everything c hanged and now there is a chance – just a chance that it could morph into a trilogy.**

**What did you think? Am I getting to dark with Jasper; do I need to change the rating or edit this? I'm not keen on changing the rating (it's a T at the mo) because I ignore it (idk about you guys) but I don't want to limit my already small fanbase (if I can call it that) and changing the rating seems dumb cuz I **_**am**_** a teen and I wrote the damn thing. **

**Now, I like the whole "REVIEWS = (IMAGINARY) COOOOOOOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" thing, but its not working well, so I decided to take a leaf out of a few good friends' books and swap to death threats.**

**REVIEW OR I'LL KILL YOU AND BURY YOU UNDER MY LEMON TREE SO YOUR CORPSE SHALL BE FOREVER LEMONY FRESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**That was fun!**

**And yes, I know I am obsessed/ mentally disturbed.**

**But review anyhow. **


	12. Battle of the Ketchup

**JAAAAAAASPEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Don't you just love him?**

**Had to get it out of my system, sorry. Mega mega team Jasper over here, but I love Edward and Seth too and I love Jacob too but in a completely different sort of way. Does anyone else think it's incredibly dumb that the fittest guy in the twilight film is definetly Taylor and not Rob? Not that I'm complaining, I just think Edward should be fitter than Jacob. No way would I be complaining at something like 5 Taylor Lautner shirtless scenes.**

**ANNNNNNYWAY for once I have nothing of importance to do with this story to say except I decided not to the rating – at least not yet. And also – there is actually HUMOUR in this chapter!!! Well, a lot of it will probably be rather childish – but I couldn't stop laughing as I was writing.**

**Get's dramatic though. Later on.**

**Here we go!**

Jasper's Pov

Bella slept in the car for a while, waking up some time in the early evening of the next day. We were nearly there by now, according to Emmett .We'd stopped late last night to get Bella some food and Emmett's jeep some petrol. I'd made a jibe about Emmett not being able to do the Sudoku, with very scary results, involving Emmett doing the Sudoku while driving and wearing a blindfold. I'd taken over driving after that. Nothing much else had happened, I was glad to say. No creepy pictures in my head, no voices, no possessed Edward jumping on top of the car, pounding through the roof and tearing us limb from limb.

Emmett was actually beginning to get bored.

It took me a few minutes to place the strange, sort of empty emotion coming from Bella.

"Oh, Bella, you should've said!" I said exasperatedly. Edward was right, she didn't like to complain.

"Said what?" She asked, frowning.

"That you were hungry! I'm so sorry; Emmett and myself aren't really used to human company. You have to remind us if you need anything."

Emmett pulled in at the next service station where Bella had a human moment and then surveyed the menu at the small diner…thing. She decided on a Spanish omelette. Emmett sat far back in his chair away from Bella and the rather repulsive smell of the food. She smirked at him.

"Want some?" She offered him. Emmett frowned at her, and moved his chair back a couple of inches.

"Aaaw, is the big vampire scared of the omelette?" I teased.

He glared. "Shut up."

"I dare you to eat some," Bella said to Emmett.

A grin exploded on my face. I wonder if Bella knew of our family's games of truth or dare a while back – and the fact that Emmett could never turn anything down. He glowered at the both of us. Then at the omelette.

Reluctantly he reached out and tore off a small piece, scrutinising it suspiciously. He held it above his mouth, his hand wavering. There was a long moment of silence as Bella and I fought hard to suppress our laughter.

Then Emmett jumped a meter in the air and let out a girlish shriek as some more omelette flicked him in the face. I burst out laughing, staring at Bella who had used her fork to flick it at him.

"Nice aim," I muttered.

"Thanks." She seemed rather surprised herself that she managed to hit him. Emmett slowly lifted his hand up to his face to wipe away the omelette. I suppressed another wave of laughter. Emmett was absolutely _furious_.

Then his hand reached across the table and grabbed the squirty ketchup bottle. My face turned serious the laughter abruptly stopped.

"RUN!!!" I screamed as Emmett undid the top and began to squirt the horrible smelling sauce. Bella dived under a table and we both began rolling along the floor like in an action movie, Bella finding the idea of me running from food hilarious, but also didn't want to get sprayed herself.

"YEAH YOU BETTER RUN!!!!!!!" Emmett yelled, not far behind us. Of course, in a diner, the speeds we could go were limited, but we still were going just a _little_ bit fast. As soon as we were out the diner, Bella randomly yelled "The car!!". It took me a few seconds to understand what she meant, but then I did and I grabbed her arm so she wouldn't keep falling over, dived into the car, put my own set of keys in the ignition and began to drive; Emmett pounding his fist once on the glass, stopping when it shattered. I caught a glance of his murderous expression in the mirror – absolutely priceless.

Luckily, Emmett had been so angry his aim had been far from perfect. Bella only had a bit of ketchup on her clothes, I had even less.

His jeep was much more damaged, I thought with another grin.

I turned left, hoping I was heading in the right direction. The roads all seemed similar; after a while I began to be certain I'd been down them before

Bella pursed her lips.

"Jasper, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Erm… not exactly." I pulled into the shoulder and consulted the map. We'd gone completely the wrong direction. I quickly worked out a roundabout route that would take us into Lafayette but would be sure not to bump into a very angry Emmett.

"When are we going to catch up with Emmett?" Bella wondered, mirroring my thoughts.

"I don't know. Give him some time to calm himself down. He'll phone once he's cooled off a bit. Never mention what happened again - and his revenge will more likely be less humiliating."

"Revenge?" Bella squeaked.

"You didn't honestly think you'd get away with this?"

"I didn't really think it through," she said nervously.

"You'll be fine," I lied easily. Why make her worry unnecessarily? She'd survive – Alice would kill Emmett if he got too ridiculous, and he knew it. My little pixie could be extremely frightening when she wanted.

"Where are we going to stay?"

"I don't know," I murmured, getting out the map again and consulting, one hand absent mindedly on the wheel. Bella let out another squeak. I suppressed a smile. "You worry too much," I informed her. "There's a hotel near by – ten or so miles. We can stop there for the week if you want. I think the heats off now."

Bella shrugged. "Sure." Then she looked down at her outfit, now well worn. "I'm going to need to get some new clothes, though." She looked apologetic, she guessed clothes weren't my thing. However, having Alice as a wife meant I learnt to cope with it.

"No problem," I said.

After we'd done the clothes shopping I checked us into the hotel. Our room was on the third floor, one away from the fire escape stairs. Good in case we needed to make a quick get away.

Bella sat down on one of the beds, pulling her legs close together. She was frowning slightly as if trying to figure something out.

"How will we know if it's coming after us?" Bella asked. I saw what she meant. My extensive sight wouldn't be much use inside a room. The creature wasn't likely to sound much different. I remembered a smell like burning flesh… but I wasn't sure how reliable that could be. I had a sudden thought. "We'll know. Remember how I said I could feel it?" A single nod. "Well, let's just say its very distinctive. I'll know when its near."

"How near?" She asked.

I hesitated before answering. "Around 350 metres. Maybe a bit more."

"How long does that give us to run?" I worked it out quickly in my head, really not liking the answer.

_Don't tell her!_

It wasn't the voices I'd been dreading. It was Edward's voice. Merely a memory. It still made me jump, as alert as I was.

"The truth, please."

_Lie to her! Protect her!_

"Less then ten seconds. I'm sorry."

And that wasn't even going into what would happen if the creature now had Edward's speed, which it should do. _If all was going well_, I thought sourly.

There was silence for a few seconds. Bella's emotions turned from fear to worry and indecision.

"What's wrong now?" I asked, making her calm again.

"Erm... Jasper, if I ask you something, will you be honest with me?"

I paused, considering, Edward screaming at me inside my head. "I won't lie. I'll… I'll be honest or I won't answer at all."

"Okay. Will Edward… ever come back?"

I considered this, thinking. I was again alone with my thoughts, the memory of Edward had gone as randomly as it had appeared. "I don't know for sure. But he came back last time. And I don't think he'd ever leave you." I paused, trying to word it right. "When I was talking to him about it… he said you made him stronger. And in all honesty – I don't think there is anything in the world that could keep you two apart for long."

My voice grew sadder towards the end, and I realised I was referring to myself and Alice, not just Edward.

She nodded, a small, sad smile flitting briefly across her face. I looked down at the ground, not knowing what to say next. When I looked up again, I realised Bella's shoulders were shaking. Really hard.

I was confused. I didn't know what to do. Was she _fitting_ or something?

Then I realised she was crying. _Crying._ And I hadn't noticed. But I still didn't know what to do. I stepped away from where I was leaning by the door, reaching over to a box of tissues on the bedside table. I straightened up, about to pass them to her, but then I froze.

_There was Bella, sitting on a bed, hunched in on herself, slowly rocking, tears falling endlessly down her face as she began to shake violently._

It was the _same_…

The perfect replica of what I'd seen in my head as we'd driven away.

I still didn't move.

_What did this mean?_

My own thoughts, in case you were wondering. But then I remembered other flashes; Rosalie punching through everything, Emmett unmoving on the ground; Carlisle holding a sobbing Esme…

Visiting those particular memories did not help to increase my levels of sanity.

I screwed up my eyes and ignored the voices trying to invade my mind. They would just be saying the same things, the same lies.

I passed the tissues to Bella, trying to stop my hand from trembling. My hands screwed up into fists. I was so frustrated, so confused, so angry. I felt like just punching something.

No. I had to keep calm. I had to remain in control. Just until Emmett came back. Then I could go on a run, rip some trees or something.

I had to last just a little bit longer.

**Not the longest chapter ever, I know. My original idea was rather dramaless, except for the humour thing which I enjoyed writing but probably seemed stupid. And then I changed my mind and this chapter was going to be very very very dramatic but very very very long and then I made it short with a slightly different ending that was VERY suspenseful but really wouldn't work in the long run. So I ended up doing it like this, in the end. I'm fairly happy with it.**

**Review please!!! **

**And does anyone know what happens if you don't do a disclaimer, cuz I never do.**

**It doesn't really matter, if its deleted I'll just re-upload it.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!**


	13. CrunchCrunchCrunch

**I have only one thing to say.**

**I really, truly hope you're not too fond of Emmett.**

Emmett's Pov

This was not my day.

I wasn't at all tired, nor did I really mind running all the way to Lafayette (haha. Funny name.) at human speed, but it gave me a lot of time to build up my anger. And to plot my revenge. Although it was rather satisfying to see Jasper drive off in the wrong direction, it wasn't anywhere near enough.

_I know! I should shave Bella's head! _I thought, slightly giddily. Or, better, I could shave Jasper's head! That would teach him. Being bald for the rest of eternity and all. Mind you… Alice would probably kill me. For both Bella and Jasper. Maybe I could just by Bella a present, she seemed to hate those.

Or… Masterstroke!

I could nominate Bella for homecoming queen! She'd get loads of votes and Alice would be on my side for this one, she just wouldn't be able to resist! Yesss!!!

It would be hilarious!

I arrived at Lafayette eventually, but then I didn't know what to do. I had no idea where Bella and Jasper were, or even if they'd turned around yet.

I wandered around for a bit, hoping to come across they're scent. Nothing. Huh.

Well at least _I_ wasn't likely to end up back in Forks wondering where I took a wrong turn.

My phone bleeped randomly; I'd got a text. I glanced at it, it was from Jasper, telling me where they were; a 4 star motel on the other side of town.

I cursed under my breath and began to walk. I wasn't in a hurry. Jasper wasn't expecting me to phone yet, he probably wouldn't get worried for a while. And I was still rather pissed off.

_Crack._

_Crack. _

_Crackcrackcrackcrack…_

It begun to rain. Hard. The rain that bounces up when it hits the ground. Being a vampire meant it also bounced off my skin, making a weird small cracking sound with every drop. People began to stare, so I ducked into some side alleys, realising that this route would be even longer.

This was not my day.

There was the omelette, the ketchup, my jeep broken, my jeep stolen, having to share a looooooooong car ride with my nerdy brother and a human who chose that moment not to be hilarious and Edward was possessed by that weird creepy soulless thing…

And now it was _raining._

Great.

Bloody great.

I got bored very quickly, my shoulders slumping, my head bent down, brooding. I'm not like Edward or Jasper, I can't spend hours alone with my thoughts (and no, it's not because I don't have enough thoughts to think about. Go away.). I like to be doing things. Not trudging through the rain.

The cracking sound was really beginning to annoy me.

_Crackcrackcrackcrack_crunchcrunchcrunch

Wait, what?

There was a new sound. I glanced around me, but I couldn't see it's source.

CrunchCrunchCrunch.

The noise was closer now. A distinct tremor of unease passed through me.

"Show yourself," I murmured, not entirely sure I wanted to see it.

_CrunchCrunchCrunch. _

Yep. Definetly closer. I considered running. But where to? How could I be sure I wasn't running straight towards it. And also… I was Emmett. I never ran away, there was never a reason to. Fight or flight was never even a choice for me.

Until now.

"Show yourself." My voice was louder now, but it didn't sound especially brave, something I wasn't at all used to.

_CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH._

I stayed where I was, my shaking fists clenched. I turned around slowly. Nothing.

_CRUNCHCRUNCH__**CRUNCH**__!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

I whirled around, quickly this time, breathing quick, slightly raspy breaths. I looked around, definetly wanting to run. But I still didn't know where. The footsteps – for that's what I guessed they were – didn't come from one direction, they were everywhere. But there was only one set of feet, somehow I was sure about that.

"Where are you?! _Show yourself!_"

I heard a ghostly chuckle from right next to me.

_But there still wasn't anyone there._

The chuckle grew louder and louder until it was hysterical, sinister, breath-stealing.

Then a tremor of burning ice seeped through and I fell.

And there I laid still.

**Okay, I'm not giving any hints, but it probably isn't what you think, because it isn't what **_**I **_**thought either.**

**Please don't hate me, there's maybe 5 more chapters to go, maybe more – anything can happen.**

**And I do mean anything.**

**Sorry, it sometimes takes a while for me to stop writing in full drama mode.**

**Please review, you have to after THAT!!!!!**

**Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee**


	14. The things no one ever knew

**Yay im finally updating! Okay, plz don't yell, I know its been 4ever since I've updated, Im sorry! It just kept being put to one side and then I got addicted to a few computer games and I gave up twilight 4 lent – SUCESSFULLY! Im so proud of me….**

**So me and my friend Rosalakrobesreem (yes, that's her real name. Of course its not! Duh!) anyway, we were talking and I realised just how much I've been keeping you guyz in the dark here. So in this chapter ur gonna get some explanations. Tis nearly the climax now, so its about time haha.**

**anyway am srry bout the looooong pause, but this shud be a gud one so here goes!**

Jasper's Pov

I sat on the edge of the hotel bed, across the other side of the room from Bella. I was getting kind of thirsty, which really wasn't good in this sort of situation. Bella was over on the beige couch, flicking endlessly through the TV channels. It wasn't really a TV watching atmosphere, Bella just needed some vague form of distraction, and this was the only one open to her. Minutes passed in silence. There was nothing to say, really. Any form of small talk would seem insanely trivial and neither one of us could really stomach talking about what was happening now. I was left alone with my thoughts, that were becoming increasingly dark these days.

Ever since I'd found Alice, I had rarely spoken of my past. Some days it didn't even seem to matter, especially when I was with her. The first time this had happened, in 1990 - more than 40 years after I first found Alice - that darker side of me had practically ceased to exist. None of my family knew the whole truth, and I'd planned to keep it that way.

But now, all the memories kept bubbling up and I was bursting to let someone know. Anyone. And thinking about it, who would be better to tell than Bella Swan? Her mind was unaccessable, and I had a weird feeling that I could trust her.

But obviously, there were problems with this idea. I mean, she would loathe me – and seeing how she would almost certainly become one of us, I couldn't have my futre sister-in-law not speaking to me for all eternity. I thought for a few moments, and then decided a different tactic to the one I'd been planning.

"Bella?"

She looked up, surprised I had spoken. "Yes?"

"Would you mind if I asked you something?"

"Erm…sure, go ahead." She seemed perplexed.

"How did you react when you found out Edward was a vampire?"

"I was…shocked, I suppose. I mean, that world just didn't exist in my head, it didn't seem possible. But then it all made sense. Because there was no way you could be human. You were obviously something more than that." I considered this for a second.

"No, I meant how did you react to _Edward_ being a vampire. You weren't horrified, or scared? Knowing that he was what many people would describe as a monster?"

"Not at all." It seemed as if that idea had never even occurred to her. "I mean, it was Edward. I just felt safe with him. I don't think he could ever hurt me."

"But what if you had…I don't know, Charlie or Renee, or someone you really cared about who you knew had been killed by a vampire. And then you learn Edward is one. Would you still feel the same about him? Would you hate him?"

"Of course not! Well, I probably would've figured out he was a vampire if I'd already encountered one. I guess I'd be more shocked, and quite confused about what I was feeling, but I could never hate him. I mean, you can't judge a whole species on a single experience with just one of them."

I just stared at her. She obviously thought she was making sense, but her words just seemed un-understandable.

"You are an extraordinary girl," I murmured.

Erm…thanks?"

"One final question."

"Sure."

"Now, this is the most important one, so really think about it before answering."

"Okay…"

"Bella – can you keep a secret?" She didn't pause for very long at all.

"If a friend asked me to keep a secret, I wouldn't breathe a word. No matter what it was."

"And you consider me a friend?" I clarified.

"Sure," she said, without pausing at all, like it was obvious.

"Okay," I sighed. _Here goes nothing_, I thought.

Bella's Pov

"Right, Bella," Jasper began. He was kind of acting weird, but I got the impression that what he was about to tell me was very hard for him to say.

"I want you to remember what you've just told me before making any judgements." He hesitated. "Do you know how _Inissa_ starts?" I shook my head. "A human. A human who is one of the most despicable, hate-filled, evil people in the world. Someone that is so dark and horrid that he doesn't even have a soul."

I nodded slowly.

"Now, if that despicable human has a child, then due to genetics, the child has a 50% chance of being soulless automatically, from the moment it is born. But a child without a soul isn't…natural. Even as a toddler, they don't laugh. They are cruel, and instinct tells the other children to stay well away. From a very young age, they become twisted, different. Without their soul, a human isn't a human. They have all sorts of strange powers, they are cunning and sadistic, and they loathe those with souls, especially immortals. They stay like that for as long as they can – even with all that power, a thing without a soul is usually very weak in some ways. They usually live to their early 30s, if someone doesn't try to kill them first. But after death, they become something much more frightening. Before death, they were still human, just without a soul. But now they don't have a body, or a soul, they just have all this raw power. So they find a host body to use it on. They feed on the souls of the ones closest to the host in order to try and keep alive, they unleash as much power as they can, otherwise it will just build up inside them. That's why the one that's got Edward now is so much stronger. Its had 17 years to build up power."

I shuddered. Jasper had a strange way of talking, quite dark, like a narrator in a horror film. He stopped for a moment.

"But Edward hasn't killed anyone in decades. Why did it take so long for it to start in the first place?"

"It doesn't have to use its powers on the one who killed it in the first place. It can be whoever's closest to them at the time, it can go anywhere. But they spend the whole time looking for the person who did kill them, so then they can take their revenge."

He sensed my nervousness and muttered an apology, before changing his tone of voice.

"Have you heard of the nature vs. nurture argument?" he asked.

"Sure. It's the character people have, and whether that's more dependent on their genes or their environment."

"And which do you think is more important."

"Nurture, I guess. It can change everything. If a kid has two good parents but then if he gets in with the wrong crowd, he could start taking drugs or something, at that changes him a whole lot more. Yes, I think nurture is more important."

"That's what I tend to think. So what do you think would happen if someone took that Inissa from a very young age and treated them like a normal child, despite their instincts. Could the child become normal? Could they laugh?"

"Yeah, I think so." He changed the subject again.

"How much do you know about my past?"

"Well, scarcely anything for sure, but I can guess a lot."

"Like what?"

"I think…you're older than Edward but younger than Carlisle." He nodded. "Obviously, you're from Texas, and Edward mentioned you were in the military – but I don't think you actually died in battle. You've not been a "vegetarian" for all that long." And – I might be completely wrong here – but I don't think you had a very good upbringing as a vampire. You seem a lot…sadder than the others.

He stared at me. I don't know why, it all seemed to fit to me. He seemed like a very experienced vampire, but nowhere near as old fashioned as Carlisle could seem which was why I guessed at the age. He couldn't really die in a battle, because there was no way a vampire would be able to be out there – what with all the blood – to save him. And he seemed to be having a lot more problems with the vegetarian life-style than the others did.

"That's all correct," he muttered, sounding astounded.

"Don't sound too surprised or anything," I answered. He let out a rare grin, but then turned serious again.

"But there's more to it than that. Unlike what the others think, my life didn't start getting tough when I changed into a vampire. My human life…wasn't so great either.

You see, my father – before I was born – had travelled the world, which was quite an unusually thing back in the 1800s. He wasn't exactly a bad man, but he was foolish and greedy, and he was certain there were higher species than humans, and he wanted in on it. So he spent a ling time going to new places, learning about the deepest and darkest so-called myths."

"And he found Inissa," I guessed.

"That's right. He met one, in fact."

"He did what?"

"This one had been living quite happily inside its host body, eating when it got hungry, changing bodies when it got bored, doing whatever it pleased really. But he sensed my Father was stupid and greedy, so he took his opportunity. My father wanted to know more about them. Their mystery, their darkness, their power – it was fascinating to him. This one he met was old and wise, and he told my Father such tales about what they could do, how they could rule, how they could kill. And how, if he were to give up his conscience, give up his very soul, that his children would have this power."

"But he didn't do that, did he?" I said incredulously. "That would've been insanity!"

"Oh, but he did. He let himself grow rotten on the inside. He returned to Texas and had 5 children, which meant 2 or 3 of them would be soulless. I was the 4th child. Elizabeth, the oldest, was already 11 by the time I was born. She left home when I was maybe 5, but she loved me dearly and promised she'd come back for me."

"Why did she leave?"

"She wasn't born an Inissa. She watched my brothers and sisters for most of her life and she knew that we weren't normal. She didn't know what was going on – she was a kind, quiet, shy creature, like my Mother – and it took her till she was about 15 or 16 to pluck up the nerve to ask what was going on. She left the same night. No one took much notice; back then, it was the norm to completely leave home around that age. But I remember being very angry with her for leaving me home with my Dad. There was always a awful atmosphere in the house, so incredibly cold, even in the middle of a Texas summer. It wasn't really bearable, looking back. I always felt ill, and was very, very quiet. But more than that - My father had given up everything that was good about him, so he wasn't really the worlds greatest Dad. He was nearly always drunk, and terribly angry. He treated us all like servants, and he would beat us up a lot. My mother was much nicer, but she couldn't do anything about all of that, back then woman were very much 2nd class citizens."

"Oh, Jasper I'm so sorry," I gasped, my hand flying o my mouth. He let out a half smile.

"Don't worry about it. It was a very long time ago; I don't remember it all that well. And it was a lot more common then." He paused briefly before carrying on the story. "Elizabeth did return, maybe three years later. In the dead of the night, she snuck into the house, told me to pack one small bag of clothes. By that time I had a younger brother, Rory. He was maybe 4 at that point and he adored me, always following me around. So I asked if he could come to. Elizabeth agreed, she was just in a hurry to get out of there. We ran through the night, me carrying Rory when he got too tired. We kept on running, for about a week after. We were still in Texas, but it was a long way from where I'd grown up. I was glad to find out that Elizabeth was now married, living in a nice house, with a husband whose name I forget. She had a job as a governess, and her husband helped out on a farm, so they had a fair amount of money. The house was nowhere near as large as my old one, but it adequate, and it had a lot more homely feel.

There were good years, in that house. I knew money was tight, so I did jobs where they were going, but I was only 8, and even back then, 8 was a very young age to start working. Besides, Elizabeth wanted us to go to school. Obviously, school cost quite a bit back then, so she just taught us, after all, she was a governess. From the age of about twelve, I started helping out on the farm where Elizabeth's husband worked, and so did Rory when he was that age. It was hard work, and there were some times when we thought there might not be enough money to keep going – but those years in that house were the best of my human life.

But about the same time Rory began working on the farm – I was 16, going on 17, things went wrong. Badly wrong. About six police officers showed up out the house in the middle of the night. I don't know how the found us, but I'm certain it was my Dad's fault. They weren't friendly officers, I was fast asleep when they broke down the door. Elizabeth's husband went down to see what all the fuss was about; the rest of us listened through the floor of the back room, hoping they wouldn't come up here. I couldn't hear the conversation very well, but I heard enough.

My mother had been murdered.

And my Dad swore blind that he'd seen me do it, and then ran off to live here, kidnapping my little brother too. It was unbelievable – I'd lived here for eight years. But back then, I was considered an adult, not a kid – I was believed to be capable of murder and kidnap. And my Father – despicable though he was – had a lot of fear-generated respect.

"But surely, a 16-year old capable of murder? His own mother?" Elizabeth's husband was trying to talk the police out of coming in further.

"We've seen the crime scene – numerous stab wounds – and she was in a lot of pain before she died. We're going to make someone swing for this."

And I was suddenly quite afraid, because back then getting hung wasn't such an unusual way to be punished for murder.

"Haven't you considered that it might've been the Father who killed her."

"Of course it wasn't! He's one of the most respected men in that whole town. Besides which, he was very emotional at the scene." That was obviously an act, I thought. "And he made a request – he couldn't bare the thought of his own child being hung. He just wants Jasper and Rory to come home. Now normally we couldn't accept something like this, but we thought we could make an exception, he seemed so overwhelmed at the thought of his child being hung. He said, if he could just knock some sense into Jasper, teach him the way things were run. If he could just have Jasper back home-"

I stood up quickly, gasping for breath. _Home._ The word suddenly seemed cold and vile. My head spun round horribly at the thought of going back home. I sat down on the bed, gasping for breath.

"I can't go back there," I gasped. "I can't go back, I _can't_." I turned to Elizabeth in fear. "Lizzy, don't make me go back there," I begged, my voice breaking. She pulled me into a hug, got me to take deep breaths. And then she told me it was going to be okay. She snuck into the bathroom – her husband was trying to keep the cops busy, but they were running out of time – and got some towels. She knotted them together and all three of us climbed out down the back window. She told me that the best thing to do would be to join the army – this was a lot safer than staying here. Back then, war was considered a glorious thing. I agreed reluctantly, but I didn't want to leave Rory. He said he could look after himself, but I knew he was bluffing. He was so scared. I couldn't leave him. But he couldn't go back to Dad. And while I could get away with joining the army, there was no way he could.

So I bluffed that I knew what I was doing, and told him he could come with me, that I had a plan. But things weren't going our way, Lizzy's husband hadn't been able to distract the police anymore, they'd seen the rope and knew we were going to run. Rory and I went out into the fields, running as fast as we could. I couldn't believe that I was running from my past again, just when I'd gotten happy. It wasn't fair. I told Rory that we had to hideout in the fields for a while – it was just before harvest season, the crops were taller then I was. It was a good hiding place – these fields were a hopeless maze unless you knew them well. I knew them like the back of my hand and Rory knew his way around too. I said if we hid here for maybe a week at the most, then we could go back to Lizzy's and the police would've given up. I was confident about that, so many crimes were committed back then, the police would've moved on since then.

We stayed out there for the week, and then a couple of days. We weren't too hungry – the plants from the farm were edible, if not especially nice. And they had water in them, so we got by.

Then we made our way back home. When we got close, maybe a couple of hundred yards away, Rory started to feel a bit strange. I said it was just lack of food, and helped him along. I didn't feel exactly right, but not really ill. Kind of…giddy, I suppose. I thought it was just relief. We got to the house, the door was locked, so we knocked.

My father answered.

I stared at him, and then I said two words.

"Where's Lizzy?"

He looked at me, letting out a grin. I couldn't speak for a few moments. Then I whispered.

"How could you?" my voice sounded strange, like a snakes hiss. He shrugged.

"I had to dispose of them both. She was a complication."

"She was your _daughter_."

"She meant nothing," he replied. And then he laughed. And I suddenly felt the most intense pain of my whole existence. I felt like my entire body had been tied in a knot, getting pulled tighter and tighter. I couldn't breathe, I was suffocating – and he hadn't laid a finger on me. I kept my eyes open, my personal act of defiance. And that's how I came to remember so clearly what happened next.

Rory was in great pain for just being close to my father, but he did a lot more than I did. He literally threw himself at Dad, knocking his concentration off for just a second. He screamed at me to run, so I did, without thinking of anyone but myself. I was fast, and I got a long way in just a few minutes. But I looked back after I'd been running maybe as little as ten seconds. When I heard a awful hacking sound. I looked back; my Dad had his hands closed on Rory's neck, squeezing hard. His face was slowly turning purple, his mouth wide open, gasping for air that he couldn't reach. He choked out something that sounded like my name. He was telling me to run, to leave him, to not let all this all be for nothing.

And I listened to him.

I ran. I didn't care where I was going – I couldn't _see_ where I was going because my eyes were blurred from crying. I just ran blindly, hating my whole life. My Mother, Lizzy, her husband,…and Rory. Four people - the only four people in the world I cared about – were dead (I had two older siblings apart from Lizzy, but they were Inissa. I felt nothing for them). But now I had got away. I was left, and It was my fault they were dead. It was all down to me, I was the one he'd wanted. And now they were all gone, and I was still there.

It wasn't _fair._

I considered killing myself that night; not only that, I very nearly did.

But then I couldn't. Because then all that had happened, everything in my whole life – would be worthless. Lizzy, Rory…it would've all been for nothing.

I just couldn't do it.

So I found the nearest army office and enlisted the very next day. I couldn't just let myself hover; the army would be a good distraction. I was very good at it, completely throwing myself into my work. It seemed like the Inissa part of my life was over.

It was a new life."

Jasper stopped speaking, the story was over. He hadn't even got onto the part where he actually got changed, but I had the feeling that was a whole different story. I was nearly in tears by the end.

"Jasper, I'm so sorry about Rory and everything."

He didn't even try to tell me that it was okay, or that he was fine, because he obviously wasn't. I leant over and gave him a hug, pulling away quickly (his eyes were quite dark; I didn't want to make him too thirsty).

But then I suddenly ran over what he'd said in my head and realised something.

"Jasper…"

"Yes?" he said grimly. He knew what I would ask.

"You said if one of the parents was soulless, then there was a 50% chance that the child was. Elizabeth wasn't an Inissa, and neither was Rory. Your two other siblings were…" I paused for a minute. "…But what were you?" Jasper looked down at the ground, I noticed he'd stopped breathing, and looked oddly stiff. I asked again, more firmly. "Jasper, what were you?"

There was a long silence and I thought he wouldn't answer. Then-

"I can't be 100% sure." He looked up at me. I was just staring at him. this couldn't be possible, could it? This was Jasper, for crying out loud! How could this terrible thing be anything connected to him?

"I don't remember it very well, but I ran very fast, like Nika could. And was always ill, and cold. And when we were walking back to the house, I felt exhilarated, not afraid." He paused. "And as a young child... I never laughed."

"You didn't?" my voice was lower than a whisper.

"Not once."

**Srry for cliff-hanger-ish thing, but hopefully this will pull some reviews in. anyway, catch up stuff, if there r any of u out there who care about my life.**

**1) I gave up twilight for Lent! 40 days and 40 nights not talking about twilightamafodgeamacated stuff! For those ppl who aren't as epic as me (haha) twilightamafodgeamacated means anything twilight related.**

**2) I got my very first flame. Which wasn't rlly that fun and made me rather upset, but then I read all the reviews off my fans and I was happier. And then I got another one and I realised there are ppl out there, in school, having conversations about how crappy my fanfics are. Which wasn't a good feeling.**

**3) I would just like 2 say thx a bunch to all my fans, u guyz rlly mean a lot to me, whether ur just a nice person who bothered to leave a review or whether ur one of my real life best friends, thanks 4 everything! Love you all, keep those reviews coming!**

**And as always:**

_**Reviews = my special, long-worked-upon, incredibly-epic, nuclear-war-ending, rabies-curing, non-existant COOKIES!**_


	15. Trust me

**Lol I know its taken me another couple of weeks, sorry! I get distracted very…o look a butterfly!**

**Aaaaaaaanyway, as I was saying, if u guys would leave me lots of nice reviews screaming at me to update more and telling me what you thought of the chapter will probably help speed things up. **

**This is more of a filler chapter, so it probably won't be terribly exciting, but lets wait and see!**

Rosalie's Pov

I was getting to be bored out my mind. Alice and I got on rather well, and normally we could have conversations for hours – but right now she was busy trying to see more visions, anything that could be useful. I had possibly the least understanding of what was going on out of all of us – I hadn't been there on the first time it had happened, and Alice wasn't bothering to tell me anything about it this time. Jasper had said he was going to text us all – but so far, no luck.

And I was quite grouchy and irritable, because I hate not knowing what's going.

And also because I was worried _sick_ about Edward.

We were in the forest. Alice had spent an awful lot on buying clothes for Bella – she probably wouldn't even wear any of them! – and I had suggested going out hunting, for want of something better to do. We'd finished hunting maybe ten minutes ago, but then Alice had started to have visions.

Sitting next to me, Alice suddenly started shaking violently. I glanced round at her. Her eyes were kind of glazed over, staring at the floor. She looked terrified.

She still hadn't stopped shaking.

"Alice?" I asked cautiously. No answer. So I did the only thing I could think of and slapped her around the face. She gave a sudden jerk, and then went back to normal.

Well, not quite. She still had that same look of fear.

"Alice, what did you see?"

She gave me a look, and then decided not to answer. "Alice, what was it?" my voice was lower now, almost threatening.

She paused for what felt like years before answering.

"It's Emmett. He's in trouble."

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. I expected myself to feel more upset, but instead I…I wasn't sad, exactly. Just overwhelmingly, murderously angry. I suddenly started to go mad, punching everything in sight (apart from Alice). Trees, ground, any animal that happened to be within a few hundred yards. When I'd finished, it looked like there had been a small earthquake. Alice materialised next to me, silently.

"Do we have enough time to get to him?" I asked, secretly plotting all the many thousands of ways I could cause excruciating pain to whoever- or whatever- had hurt my Emmett.

"Well…not exactly." Alice set off running, and so did I. When we reached the car, she tossed me the keys. "You drive. "I need to be able to phone them all. And I need to be able to see."

"And you need to explain to me just what the hell is going on?"

"I don't think that's such a great idea when you're driving. Don't panic - _Emmett_ will be okay." I caught the tone in her voice.

"What about the others? Jasper, Bella?"

Alice didn't answer me. Instead she fished her mobile out her bag and dialled, her tiny fingers moving at lightening speed.

Carlisle's Pov

Esme was scared. She looked peaceful enough, curled up on a chair with a book she'd bought, but I knew her better than she thought. I leant in and gave her a hug and a small kiss on the cheek. She looked up at me, and I gave her a small smile.

My phone began to beep at me, so I sighed and picked it up.

"Carlisle?"

"Alice, how are you-"

"No time for that. Listen –" and then she began to talk, incredibly quickly, filling me in on everything she'd seen. My face went turned grimmer and grimmer – and it hadn't looked too cheerful to begin with. Then she finally finished, I suddenly took it all in

"Okay, okay. Are you getting Bella and Jasper to move?"

"Of course. I'm going to phone them, get them to move to your old house. I don't think he'll come there. I hope not…"

"Don't worry, Alice. Esme and I will meet you in Lafayette as soon as possible. We have to finish this now."

"I know, but what about Edward?" I stopped. After a pause I replied.

"Alice, listen to me. Everything will be fine." Alice could tell from my voice that I really wasn't certain of that.

"Okay…I'll see you there then."

"Okay. Goodbye, Alice." I hung up. Esme looked up at me.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"It's a long story." She gave a small nod, and then to my surprise, she started crying. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight. Then I promised to her that somehow – everything would be okay. That I wouldn't let anything happen to her, or to my family.

I shouldn't have promised.

Because I had no idea whether it would be okay.

I didn't even know if, maybe this time tomorrow – how many of the Cullen family would be left.

Or maybe even if there would be anyone left at all.

Jasper's Pov

Bella wasn't talking. She wasn't angry, just kind of stunned – and to my disbelief, from the tenor of her feelings it didn't seem like it made any difference to our friendship. Unbelievable. I glanced down at my pocket – finally something had broken the silence. My phone was ringing.

"Hello?" I said, slightly warily.

"Jasper," Alice said. She sounded very worried.

"What happened?" my voice was instantly lower, urgent. Bella looked at me, beginning to feel nervous.

"Look, I can't explain it right now. There's lots of things going on, and it's very blurry, but you aren't safe where you are."

"…Okay. What should we do?"

"Emmett's not with you, is he?"

I felt a tremor of worry. I saw again in my head, the image of Emmett lying on the ground, bleeding. I shook it away.

"No. But he's okay, right?"

No answer. "Hey, Alice, he's fine isn't he?" another silence. "_Isn't he_?" I said, my voice rising a little.

"I need you to move into the house where they used to live. Don't tell Emmett that you're going there, just send him a message saying that you had to move and that he should phone you. If he does, then it should be safe. Okay?"

"Yes…but Emmett…he's going to be okay…right?"

"Jasper. Trust me, I will make sure he's fine."

"Okay…"

"Trust me. And, Jazz?"

"Yes?"

Her voice suddenly turned quite vulnerable. "Don't do anything that you're planning. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you."

But there was something different in her tone, something desperate, something barely holding it together. "Alice, why would anything happen to me?"

"Jazz-"

"You didn't…you didn't see anything did you?"

Complete silence.

"Alice, everything will be fine, right? Nothing will happen?" what I had meant to be reassuring had turned into a question, and I suddenly felt quite afraid. "Alice?" I asked.

"I love you," she whispered, sounding heartbroken.

And then the line went dead.

**Probably one of my shorter chapters, only 5 pages. They are normally around 8, lol! Am sorry, but its just a filler haha.**

**Turned out better than I thought though. And also, PLEASE review! You have no idea how good it makes me feel to get a nice review. And if you're like me and when u read a story you review nearly every single chapter and then you stop cuz you're worried the author will think ur a bit weird then that's okay! The more reviews the better! Except for if they r all flamer ppl, and then the less the better.**

**So bottom line, PLEASE REVIEW, PLEASE?**


	16. Twisted

**More Emmettosity! Yay u get to know what happens!**

**(Muahahahaha)**

Emmett's Pov

The pain shuddered through me and I was on the ground. I scrunched my eyes up and let out a curse – but then the most unexpected thing happened.

The pain disappeared.

I got up on my feet instantly, I was about to run (A part of me couldn't believe that) but then I realised I couldn't – if I did, I'd be leading it straight to them. The only way to settle it was a straight fight, here and now. Unless I ran somewhere else – but no, I was pretty damn sure this wasn't something I could run from.

And I was pretty certain that it wasn't going to settle for a good clean fight.

Was it even still _here_?

I slowly turned in a full circle, then jerked around quickly just to make sure it wasn't like one of those horror movies where its right behind you the whole time.

Nothing.

So I could just go straight to where we were staying, right?

No, I couldn't. I was pretty sure that this wasn't over. It was still there somewhere, hiding maybe.

I had…I had to do something different, something better. It – no matter how many times I referred to him as it – was still my brother. He was still in there, he had to be.

I just had to get him out... I thought back to 1990, the first time. It had been Jasper – but if I got Jasper to come help, then Bella would be all by herself, an impossibly easy target. And there was no way I was leaving Jasper on his own with it. I know people get the impression I'm thick, but it seemed quite obvious that Jasper had some past battle with this thing; he kept randomly freaking out.

My phone beeped, I had 2 new texts. I opened the one from Jasper first.

_We've moved to a different location. Alice said we had to. Phone when you get this._

The other was from Alice.

_Emmett, wth is going on? Get out of there now! R u trying to get yourself killed? Alice x_

Well, that was reassuring.

I heard light footsteps, coming from all around me. I braced myself and-

The pain exploded again, but this time I grabbed hold of a garbage bin lid and clenched it hard. It was a bad couple of seconds, but then it just disappeared.

What the hell was this?

_Emmett, how the hell are you doing that? _Edward's voice sounded loud and clear in my head. I blinked.

_No, the real question is, how the hell am I hearing your voice? _I thought. It didn't really seem that weird, it was just like when I'm thinking stuff to him, except he could reply.

_I…it's a long story. But seriously, how can you do that? Take that pain and just…wince? You should be on the ground, screaming._

_I dunno. But what am I meant to do now, smart guy?_

I heard more footsteps behind me and clenched my teeth together.

_Ouch…_I thought, managing to stay standing. I felt Edward exclaiming.

_How are you doing that? I mean, I know you're physically stronger than me and stuff, but this is…impossible. _

I didn't know how to reply to that. _Maybe I have a higher pain threshold?_

_No, its more than that. Its like your…immune or something. Hmmm…_

I considered this for a second, then shrugged. I didn't really know much about it.

_How are you in my head? Or am I just imagining you? _I asked him.

_No, its not your imagination. I'm still inside my own body, but Nika's in there. He's very strong. Before…it was nothing compared to this. Ever since he came back, I knew he was just toying with me. He could've crushed me at any moment, the only reason he didn't was because he wanted to torment me. He wanted to make me wait, to make me afraid. Then it was all the more fun for him. _

…_Oh. _I felt a shudder pass through me as I realised something; all my hairs stood up on end. It had gone eerily quiet. _Edward…_

_Yes?_

_It hasn't tried anything for the past few minutes. _Edward remained silent. _What's it doing? What's it planning?_

_I…I don't know._

_You're still connected with…it. Go and see. What's it doing? _There was a much longer pause, and then a yell that took me by surprise.

_Run! Run Emmett, get out of here! _I spun around, anxiously. _No, Emmett! Run, _now!

I sped off, still not knowing why. But Edward had sounded desperate, incredibly urgent. So I just ran.

I ran into something solid, it sent me stumbling back a couple of feet. I frowned at the empty space that had just shoved me back.

What the _hell?_

_Its realised it can't beat you the same way as me…its very strong. It will fight you._

_Oh. _I felt a glimmer of hope. Fighting, a good clean fight. I could do this.

"Who said anything about a good clean fight?" It hissed from next to me.

…

It was next to me.

I turned to my left, slowly. At last I got a good look at the thing.

It wasn't pretty.

It was almost laughably small for something that had caused so much trouble. Small, incredibly skinny. About the size of maybe an average thirteen year-old. But it was horrifying, with red blistered skin that seemed to be peeling off in places, coated in ice that was twisted into all sorts of strange, intricate patterns. Its face was covered with scars, with a sadistic shark smile. Its eyes were the most terrifying of all, they didn't even _seem_ like eyes. They were massive and frosty blue, and they actually appeared to be fizzing with electricity. They seemed to actually be a solid thing by themselves. Try as I might, I couldn't make myself look directly into them.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you," I began, and then stopped. "Wait, who the hell am I kidding? You are _sick_." I kicked out violently, a kick that would've sent a vampire stumbling back. Instead, I kicked out and kept on going, for it was no longer there.

I caught myself and stood straight. I had a better idea of it now.

"You have Edward's speed," I noted. "Or are you reading my mind?"

_He can't read your mind. _Edward said, sounding very surprised.

_What? Why not?_

_I haven't a clue. Probably the same reason he can't use his power on you. You know what this means, right?_

_Erm…what?_

_That your mind is now your biggest asset. It's the one thing it can't harm._

_Well, that's great except that I'm not much of a thinker, if you know what I mean._

I waited for Edward to reply, but he didn't.

_Ed, you there?_

Nothing.

Well, that can't be good. I looked over to my opponent. He was looking back at me with his strange eyes. Plotting. The silence continued for a few minutes, then I spoke.

"Erm…are we fighting or not?"

"This surely can't be defined as a fight," it replied coldly.

"Well, yes, because we aren't doing anything."

"No. Because a fight implies you have some sort of vague chance at winning."

"Well, come on, if you think you're tough enough." Is it just me or am I sometimes to cocky for my own good?

"You're of no importance to me. Except for one small thing."

"And what might that be?"

"Where are Jasper and Bella?"

I smiled. "I haven't a clue. Everyone split up. They could be anywhere."

"How strange. You're telling the truth."

I blinked. It was so _creepy_. "But not the whole truth. You can find out where they are. You can phone them."

"Well…"

"Phone them. Now. And your death will be quick."

I burst out laughing. "Phone them? The _hell_ I will." It shrugged.

"Have it your way then." And then he opened his mouth and two long, slender fangs protruded from his mouth. Before I could say anything, he charged at me. I was half way through bringing my arms up to protect my face, so I got bitten on my arm. I was incredibly lucky, it had been aiming for my neck.

Or at least, that's what I thought.

Then I felt the coldness seeping through my veins. My whole arm went kind of limb and numb. The pain was intense, but I knew my immunity - or whatever it was - remained, because I bit the inside of my cheek hard and lashed out with my other fist.

The pain wasn't gone, but it wasn't unbearable either. I glanced down at my bitten arm. Red tinged venom was flowing quite freely from it. This was the vampire equivalent to bleeding and could severely weaken me if it happened too much too often. I had to be careful not to take too many more bites.

Slowly, as I was fighting, feeling began to return to my arm. I'd been relying on unpredictability – it couldn't read my mind, so as long as I kept moving around, changing direction, I would be okay. But this technique meant I wasn't getting too many hits in, and it was getting better.

So I turned suddenly, 180 degrees and struck my fist out into its mouth, kicking it a few times too. Then I turned again, trying to dodge round it so I could attack again – but then it saw its chance.

It had hardly felt the punches, or if it did, it wasn't showing it. Instead it leapt forward as soon as turned away and bit again. On my back.

Now, while this might seem to be just another bite, it actually wasn't. It bit my back, right at the top of my spine. When it had bitten my arm, it had gone numb and limp, and now it had bitten my spine. After a couple of seconds, I just collapsed on the floor, my body crumpling in on itself.

It smiled triumphantly, a smile that would put a Cheshire cat to shame. Then it moved like a slash and began biting me all over, except for one arm, for some reason. I held my mouth shut, refusing to let him know how much it hurt. Venom was flowing from numerous wounds on body, and I felt unbelievably weak when he stopped. He stood above me, smiling down at me, careful to keep just far enough away so I couldn't try and rip his twisted head off with my good arm.

I glared back up at him. With the first bite, it had only taken maybe half a minute before I could use it again, but I was a lot weaker now. It could be maybe ten minutes with the amount of venom I'd lost, and even then I wouldn't be able to put up any sort of fight.

My phone bleeped at me but I couldn't reach it. It was actually infuriating. I reached out with my good arm, the unbitten one, but Nika slid back so it was just a little bit out of reach. It knelt down next to me and slid my phone out of my pocket, glancing down at it.

"Its from Rosalie," He told me.

"Give me that," I hissed, trying to snatch it off him with the hand that was closer to him. my fingers merely twitched. He smirked.

"Emmett, r u okay?" He read out, imitating Rosalie's voice. "Don't worry, Alice knows where u r and we r both coming to help u. will be here in 10 minutes tops. rose xxxx" He glanced down at me. "Awww, how sweet." He tossed the phone to me. I picked it up with my good arm and looked at him.

"Phone Jasper. Find out where he is."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" I wasn't scared to die for Bella and Jasper's sake. What did he take me for?

"No," he grinned, he was going to enjoy this moment. "I'll wait here until our friend Rosalie gets here. And then I'll let you watch as I kill _her_."

I stared at him. "You wouldn't," I growled lowly. "I swear, if you touch one hair on my Rose's head I will make sure that you die the absolute most painful slowlest death possible. I spend weeks thinking up the possibilties. If you value anything about your life at all, then you leave her alone. You hear me?"

He smiled, positively beaming at me." Phone him. And put it on speaker, I don't want you pulling any tricks. Keep it sounding natural."

Glaring at him, hating him, I held my phone in front of me, and phoned Jazz.

"Emmett?"

"Hi Jazz," I couldn't keep the defeated tone out of my voice, nor could I fully suppress the pain from my tone.

"Emmett, are you okay?" he sounded disbelieving.

"Yeah, course. Where are you?"

"Carlisle's old house. We figured he wouldn't go there. Its just off the main road, about 12 miles along."

"Kay. Then…" I paused. If I went through with this I'd hate myself. But I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Rose got hurt. But…

Oh, stuff it.

"Jazz, get out of there. He's coming, run!" Nika turned, his wide eyes ablaze. It roared furiously at me.

"Emmett, what's going on?" Jasper said, hearing the roar.

"RUN! I'll be okay, just get _out_-" It ripped the phone from my hand and threw it in out of reach.

"Em, are you there?" I heard Jasper sounding anxious, from the other end of the phone. Nika shoved his foot down on top of the phone, crushing it. He looked down at me and I felt sure he was about to kill me. Or was he going to wait for Rose to get here.

But then I realised – it was only Jasper and/or Bella he was interested in. And right now they could be on the run. He needed to get to the house and see if he could figure out where they'd gone, he didn't have time. For a few seconds, I thought I might have gotten away with it, but then it turned around and sank its teeth through my neck. I let out a yell – this pain was much worse. Incredible pain. He lingered there for nearly a minute, his teeth still digging right in to my neck. I shut my eyes and let out a string of curses – but then he was gone.

I let out a low oath as the pain spread through me slowly, not fading. It hurt bad – but I had a feeling that it wasn't a patch on what Edward was going through.

I focused on breathing – the air wasn't nessecary but it made me feel just a little bit better. I laid there for…I don't know, maybe 10 minutes (it seemed a lot longer) until I heard footsteps. Light and very fast – vampire footsteps. I slowly opened my eyes, wincing to see my angel running towards me.

"Rose..." I murmured. The name seemed like a dream. "Rose?"

"I'm here," She said, stroking my forehead. Alice appeared beside her. "Emmett, honey, what happened?" Rose asked.

"I was…it was here. It wanted me to tell it where Bella and Jasper was. I wouldn't, so we got in a fight. It bit me a lot." Rosalie hissed. "It has some kind of poison. When he bit me, it was temporarily paralysing."

"Can you move now?" Alice asked.

"I dunno." I managed to sit up, looking down at myself. I didn't look too good, there was lots of venom oozing out of my wounds. I frowned. "Well, that's not good." Rosalie was staring at Alice, who was having a vision.

"Emmett," Alice said suddenly.

"What?"

"Did you tell him? Did you tell him where they were?" There was an edge to her voice.

"What did you see?"

"_Did you tell him?" _She hissed furiously.

"Yes, but-"

"You coward! You idiot! Do you have any idea what you've _done_?"

"Erm…no," I said truthfully. "And it wasn't like that. He threatened to kill Rose when she got here. And even when I did phone them I couldn't do it, and just yelled at them to run."

"Well, they aren't running!"

"They aren't? What the hell is wrong with them!" I exclaimed, getting to my feet.

"Jasper's going to confront it."

"He can't! It's too strong – and Bella's still human."

"I KNOW!" She screamed at me. She flipped open her phone dialled a number. "Carlisle? Jasper's going to confront Edward."

Wow. I'd actually forgotten that it was Edward. For me, I hadn't felt any regrets trying to kill the thing, but now I realised. That was still my brother. Not in any immediately obvious way, but still.

Was there any possible way that we would _all_ manage to get out of this alive?

I hadn't actually stopped to think that, if we won against it, then we would still lose a brother.

But there had to be some way around it. This was Edward, he couldn't die.

"Yes." Alice was still on the phone. "Yes. I don't know! Just get their ASAP. And try not to panic Esme. Okay. Bye."

Alice hung up and sped off, Rosalie stayed behind with me going as fast as I could manage, which was a little faster than a human running. But fortunately, the car wasn't too far away.

"Where are we going, by the way?" I asked as I sat down.

"Carlisle's old house. Where they all are." Alice was driving like a deranged pixie. "Carlisle and Esme are coming, they weren't too far away. They should get there maybe 5 minutes after us. If I drive like this, we'll get too the house in maybe three minutes, depending on traffic."

"Will we get there before…anything bad happens?"

Alice paused. "…No. No, I don't think we will. My vision was only maybe a minute ahead of real time. By the time we get there it will probably be too late."

"Alice, what did you see?" She glanced at me, then she shook her heard.

"You'll find out soon enough. Trust me, you don't even wanna know."

**Okay, that was kinda long. Hmmmm…wasn't quite as good as I planned. O well…its only really my friends that are reviewing, so it doesn't really matter :(**

**But please let me know what u think!**

**As always…**

**Reviews = my special, long-worked-upon, incredibly-epic, nuclear-war-ending, rabies-curing, non-existant COOKIES!**

**And reviews make me feel happiful. :)**


End file.
